Cheap MRI in Thailand

[Hellfire]

Guys, PM me for details. I recently found an option for the really cheap MRI tests all around Thailand. I talk about 3 times cheaper than in the major hospitals. I could post the link here but afraid the thread might be then removed. 
 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Hellfire

[Sheryl]

If you are referring to www.mrithailand.com this has been posted about many, many times

[Hellfire]

25 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

If you are referring to www.mrithailand.com this has been posted about many, many times

Yes, you are right. Just wanted to help anybody who might need it. From my own impression, they have a bit older equipment (like 1.5T machines versus 3T) , but still quite useful in 95% of cases.

[Sheryl]

Yes, older equipment and none of the specialized types (multi-parametric etc). But usually OK for say MRI of the spine.

 

I would advise against getting MRI with contrast at any stand alone imaging center (as opposed to hospital) as a small percentage of people suffer serious adverse reactions to the contrast media. But without contrast, if no special type of MRI required, it is OK.

[Hellfire]

17 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Yes, older equipment and none of the specialized types (multi-parametric etc). But usually OK for say MRI of the spine.

 

I would advise against getting MRI with contrast at any stand alone imaging center (as opposed to hospital) as a small percentage of people suffer serious adverse reactions to the contrast media. But without contrast, if no special type of MRI required, it is OK.

Again, you are right.  While they offer the best price, many other aspects should be taken into consideration.

 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Hellfire

[gt162]

7 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

Again, you are right.  While they offer the best price, many other aspects should be taken into consideration.

 

 

How much?

[Hellfire]

19 minutes ago, gt162 said:

How much?

I think it is about 3 times cheaper. But pay attention to the details (older equipment, lower level of service etc.).

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Hellfire

[rwill]

Of course getting an MRI at a government hospital should be way cheaper than private ones.  Specially if you live in areas where the private hospitals charge very high prices.  Like for example not all Bangkok hospitals charge the same rate.  It depends on their location.

[internationalism]

They charge 7200b for body part. Dye 2500b. Plus films, probably 200b each. 
Full abdomen is 14 200b. 
full body 55k, dye 5k. Last 1h. 
all branches do charge same, so probably same outdated equipment. 
Worth to ask their HQ. At some stage, when there is demand, they bound to upgrade at least at their most busy clinic. 
For full body, they claim in their thai language version, they have as the first in thailand Avanto from siemens. 
Also they claim in thai version "create detailed cross sectional images or “slices” of the different body parts . It can also be proceeded as three dimensions image." (that is automatic translation). 
 

also in thai version they claim that chronic hepatitis B increase liver cancer by up to 340x, being carrier up to 400x. 
I think all hep B survivors carry virus all life. I did have hep B as a kid, with symptoms into my early adulthood. AFP cancer markers show i had infection, but are in norm. Ultrasound shows clear liver

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, rwill said:

Of course getting an MRI at a government hospital should be way cheaper than private ones.  Specially if you live in areas where the private hospitals charge very high prices.  Like for example not all Bangkok hospitals charge the same rate.  It depends on their location.

Although likely cheaper than a private hospital costs in government hospitals are not cheap as they need to pay/replace equipment just as a private facility and most are not paying for service.  Where government hospitals are much cheaper is surgical procedures/medications and such not involving costly imported equipment.  

[internationalism]

3 hours ago, rwill said:

Of course getting an MRI at a government hospital should be way cheaper than private ones.  Specially if you live in areas where the private hospitals charge very high prices.  Like for example not all Bangkok hospitals charge the same rate.  It depends on their location.

that is private lab.

Many hospitals don't have mri. I went to a smallish private and they referred me to their thonburi hospitals network.

I would think also medium size the governmental ones don't have mri. I have asked as such hospital for USG and they refused, quoting some 6 months waiting list (yes, that was cheap on their list 1800b full abdomen - just they refused my payment). So I think they don't have MRI or waiting list is even longer. 

In any way you need referral from doctor.

To this lab you don't need doctor's referral. In fact they state on their website, they don't accept referrals from doctors or hospitals (not sure why, not explained on their sire, maybe something to do with poor quality equipment?).

My thoracic mri cost me some 10k back in 2013, no contrast was needed. So this 7200+ b at the lab is much cheaper (also taking into consideration inflation).

It also looks like mri is much safer than CT (no radiation and no iodine based dye).

Many of private labs are located close to large governmental hospitals. Patients from those hospitals go strait the next door for fast tests. 

So choosing such lab next to the governmental or private hospital, just in case of emergency, might make sense. But I would think that those labs are also prepared and have a doctor on standby, and that's why they charge 2500b for dye. With tens of patients every day they must have sure emergency procedures.

[Antiparovian]

Why do you need an MRI? Of where. The mist important thing is to have a quality Radiologist to interpret it 

[Sheryl]

13 hours ago, internationalism said:

 

I think all hep B survivors carry virus all life. I did have hep B as a kid, with symptoms into my early adulthood. AFP cancer markers show i had infection, but are in norm. Ultrasound shows clear liver

The majority of people who contract Hep B as adults fully clear the virus. Only a minority (about 5%) develop chronic form. 

 

Chronic HBV is indeed a risk factor for liver failure and liver cancer.

 

Chronic HBV is easily identified by the persistence of HBV antigen. 

[EVENKEEL]

BPH charged 20,000thb just recently for MRI of one body area. Dr visits are 1200thb.

[EdrigoSalvadore]

I did CT scan in Pattaya city hospital a few months ago on my brain. I believe the cost was about 7000.

[Sheryl]

10 hours ago, Antiparovian said:

Why do you need an MRI? Of where. The mist important thing is to have a quality Radiologist to interpret it 

Actually interpretation by the relevant specialist is what matters most. They will ignore radiologist report and do thrir own  reading. 

[internationalism]

I have contacted them.

While checking for a location of their clinic near my home on googlemaps I have spotted photo of an entrance to clinic naming their equipment "simens symphony". That's some 15 years old technology.

All their branches have that, usually only one per clinic.

They make money opening early morning, from 6am, and closing around midnight.

Only at their HQ they have 2 machines Avanto (that one advertised on their website as the first in thailand) - that one is already some 10 years on the market.

The newest one, which their representative called mistakenly "Amera", but it can be Amira or Aera. That ones are also some 7 years on the market.

I have requested that machine, but so far I wasn't able to book it.

They are all 1.5T.

Here is a comparison chart of simens mri's - at the bottom of this article is a graphic (green one) which on clicking opens in a new window and is easy to read.

https://info.blockimaging.com/siemens-mri-machine-models-and-reviews

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by internationalism

[internationalism]

I got reply from them (looks like they close office at 6pm). I have requested without dye.

That is "self-prescribed" check up, before seeing gastro specialist booked for September.

There is a possibility they make extra money by forcing patients to get dye + adding 25% to cost (and probably very easy profit for them).

 

"For Upper Abdomen MRI. It takes around 1 hr for scanning. The radiologist requested use contrast injection for examination in every case to scanning. The patient cannot refuse. 

You need to do with Creatinine test (renal function test) from hospital first. If you not have creatinine result, our center we provide for creatinine test service an additional 300 THB fee. We need to use creatinine result before do an MRI with us."

 

so it makes total 7200+2500+300=10k

Edited August 14, 2022 by internationalism

[Hellfire]

5 hours ago, internationalism said:

I got reply from them (looks like they close office at 6pm). I have requested without dye.

That is "self-prescribed" check up, before seeing gastro specialist booked for September.

There is a possibility they make extra money by forcing patients to get dye + adding 25% to cost (and probably very easy profit for them).

 

"For Upper Abdomen MRI. It takes around 1 hr for scanning. The radiologist requested use contrast injection for examination in every case to scanning. The patient cannot refuse. 

You need to do with Creatinine test (renal function test) from hospital first. If you not have creatinine result, our center we provide for creatinine test service an additional 300 THB fee. We need to use creatinine result before do an MRI with us."

 

so it makes total 7200+2500+300=10k

I booked exact same MRI with them some time ago. They also insisted on doing it with contrast (which I find strange). But no Creatinine test was requested. 
P.S I was quoted 35000 thb for full abdomen MRI (with contrast) at BPH. Plus 1200 for the doctor.
 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Hellfire

[Hellfire]

18 hours ago, EdrigoSalvadore said:

I did CT scan in Pattaya city hospital a few months ago on my brain. I believe the cost was about 7000.

CT is considerably cheaper than MRI

[Sheryl]

Abdominal MRI without contrast is of very little use as it will not show tumors etc.

 

MRI without contrast is mainly used for musculoskeletal  problems.

 

Not a good idea to get scan with contrast at an imaging center.

 

Self  prescribd  MRIs more often than not a waste or money. 

[timendres]

I do not know much about MRI technology. But I do know this. Some years ago, I had a subcutaneous tumor that was on my temple. The issue was that the tumor was directly above the facial nerve, making it a very delicate region to have a tumor, or have surgery to remove it. I had a "cheap" MRI done. The price was fantastic. I took the prints and DVD to my oncologist, and he stated that it was unusable. Apparently, the resolution of the MRI was like two slices through a golf ball (good explanation by the doctor). Not enough information. The hospital, Samitivej, then put me in their MRI and focused in closer to the actual tumor. The doctor said the resolution was now like 100 slices of that golf ball. He said that he wanted to see exactly where is was relative to an important membrane, and he wanted to see if it looked "well contained".

 

My point being, a cheaper MRI can be useless in some cases. You should double check with the doctor who will be reading that MRI to see if he believes it will provide the information that he needs.

[Antiparovian]

On 8/13/2022 at 4:38 PM, Sheryl said:

Actually interpretation by the relevant specialist is what matters most. They will ignore radiologist report and do thrir own  reading. 

As a retired Physician I would disagree.In the UK anyway. Ignoring the specialist radiologists report would be medico-legal folly. A dicussion with the radiologist would be appropriate.

[Sheryl]

7 hours ago, Antiparovian said:

As a retired Physician I would disagree.In the UK anyway. Ignoring the specialist radiologists report would be medico-legal folly. A dicussion with the radiologist would be appropriate.

 

It us quite different in Thailand.

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

It us quite different in Thailand.

In my experience, it depends a bit on the specialty.

Neurosurgeons most definitely do it the way Sheryl  said.

(Neurologists tend to follow the radiologist.)

GI doctors, and especially abdominal surgeons,  do their own reading, too.

Urologists follow the radiologist (and the discussion with the radiologist mentioned by Anti was actually a discussion between me and the radiologist)

[Hellfire]

On 8/17/2022 at 1:07 AM, Lorry said:

In my experience, it depends a bit on the specialty.

Neurosurgeons most definitely do it the way Sheryl  said.

(Neurologists tend to follow the radiologist.)

GI doctors, and especially abdominal surgeons,  do their own reading, too.

Urologists follow the radiologist (and the discussion with the radiologist mentioned by Anti was actually a discussion between me and the radiologist)

In my last 2 visits to GI doctors (in TH) none of them took time to look at the  actual CT scans. 

[Sheryl]

10 hours ago, Hellfire said:

In my last 2 visits to GI doctors (in TH) none of them took time to look at the  actual CT scans. 

Had they ordered the scans?

[Hellfire]

13 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Had they ordered the scans?

No

[Sheryl]

9 hours ago, Hellfire said:

No

Would explain it. Likely not relevant to the differential diagnosis.

[jack71]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:40 PM, EVENKEEL said:

BPH charged 20,000thb just recently for MRI of one body area. Dr visits are 1200thb.

In bumrungrad I got quoted 27,000 for 1 body part. Crazy expensive. The dr was good guy. He said just go anywhere cheaper and bring CD to him.