An Enid owned diagnostic imaging center is expanding its services and its business model of offering competitive cash-pay prices for patients who pay out-of-pocket, or for those with high insurance deductibles.
Zoom Diagnostic Imaging, 1113 W. Cherry, Enid, Oklahoma opened in September 2017 with one CT scan machine, then added an MRI machine in October 2018 and last month added a digital X-ray machine.
The diagnostic imaging center is the work of Zoom President Jermaine Wade, who moved home to Enid in 2017 to start the business.
Wade graduated from Enid High School in 1995, went to Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva on a basketball scholarship and earned a degree in business management in 1999.
After graduation, Wade moved to Dallas, where he worked in the diagnostic imaging industry until 2017, when he decided to go out on his own and open an imaging center in Enid.
Wade said he, along with business partners David Savage, of Dallas, and Mike Loftis, of Blackwell, opened Zoom to expand access in Enid to independent diagnostic imaging with an affordable cash pay scale.
“I wanted to bring something to my hometown that’s very affordable, and allows people to get the studies they need,” Wade said. “I wanted to offer something that’s financially beneficial for patients, and hopefully beneficial for health care.”
Wade said he determined the need for Zoom after listening to stories of patients in Enid and surrounding communities who couldn’t afford imaging services, either because they are uninsured or because they have high deductibles on their insurance plans.
“The deductibles just started over, and for most people that’s $3,000 to $5,000, and for some people it’s as much as $10,000,” Wade said.
Some people aren’t able to pay the insurance rate for an expensive diagnostic test like a CT scan if they haven’t yet met their deductible, or if they don’t have insurance, Wade said. That leads some patients to decline recommended diagnostic tests, he said, which could mean ailments go untreated.
“I didn’t like that there was a price barrier for a lot of patients,” Wade said.
Being an independent imaging center with low overhead, Wade said he’s able to reduce his cash rates for out-of-pocket payers or patients who haven’t yet met their deductible. And, he said, cash payments at Zoom still are filed with the patient’s insurance carrier and count toward the deductible.
Zoom is in-network for most major insurance carriers and also accepts government insurance plans such as SoonerCare and Medicare. And, Wade said he’s in the process of enrolling Zoom in popular self-funded insurance plans like Kempton Group and Medi-Share.
By being small and independent, Wade said he also strives to compete against larger diagnostic providers in speed of service.
Most patients receive same-day service for their diagnostic imaging, Wade said, and X-rays are offered on a walk-in basis. Wade said the imaging technicians at Zoom typically take less than an hour to return the results back to the ordering physician.
Physicians also have a secure online portal, where they can log on and access the diagnostic reports and imaging as soon as they’re completed.
“I like to try to make things easy for the physician, so the physician gets results faster and the patient can get relief faster,” Wade said. “To me, that’s what outpatient imaging is all about, is to be fast.”
Patients coming to Zoom must have a referral from a physician. But, Wade said, many patients don’t know they can request to be referred to an independent imaging center, even if their physician is associated with a hospital or other imaging provider.
“A lot of patients don’t know they can go to the place of their choice,” Wade said. “I want patients to know they have the choice of where they want to go for their diagnostic imaging.”
For information on diagnostic imaging services at Zoom, call (580) 540-3244 or go to http://zoomdiagnostic.com/.
Story provided by Enid News & Eagle
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