Nair Hospital in Mumbai, India, is telling some outpatients they will have to wait until 2020 for MRI scans.
According to a December 14 report on MirrorNowNews.com, the months-long delay is due to an "overburdened radiology department" that only has one MRI scanner.
Nair Hospital receives approximately 50 to 60 requests per day for an early MRI appointment to hasten patients' diagnoses and begin treatment. However, because the hospital has only one scanner, the radiology department can only perform 12 to 15 MRI exams per day, the report noted.
Another reason for the backlog is Nair Hospital's lower fees. Compared with more expensive private hospitals, it charges only a fraction of the cost of an MRI scan. According to the article, Nair Hospital offers discounts on MRI scans and might waive charges if a patient cannot afford to pay.
While there are reported backlogs at other facilities, they are not as severe. King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital can schedule an MRI scan for July 25, 2019, while Lokmanya Tilak (Sion) Hospital has only a three-month wait, according to the article.
