It sounds odd at first: people driving an hour and a half or more across Missouri and Illinois for a medical scan. But it happens every week at our clinic, and it’s not because the drive is fun. It’s because the math works out. This is the honest version of why patients from Rolla, Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, and Columbia choose to make the trip.
The Price Gap Is the Whole Story
For a self-pay patient, an MRI at a hospital-based center in St. Louis routinely costs $1,500 or more, and that’s before the separate facility fee and radiologist reading fee show up in the mail. If you have a high-deductible plan and haven’t met it, using insurance can still cost you more than $400 out of pocket.
We charge a flat $399 for every non-contrast scan, and that’s the total. The scan, the board-certified radiologist’s read, and a CD of your images. No facility fee, no separate reading bill, no insurance billing. When the alternative is a four-figure estimate or several weeks on a hospital’s schedule, a couple hours of driving starts to look like a reasonable trade.
What You Get for the Drive
The flat rate is the headline, but it’s not the only reason people come from out of town:
- Same-day appointments, often available by phone. You don’t have to wait weeks. Call us and we’ll check the schedule — the closest openings are easiest to grab by phone.
- A report in 24–48 hours. A board-certified radiologist reads the scan and the report goes to your provider within two business days. Many patients hear back before they’re home a second time.
- Non-contrast, no prep. No IV, no dye, no fasting. Bring your doctor’s order, lie still for about 25 minutes, and you’re done.
- A toll-free route from most corridors. We’ve mapped out the drives from every direction — see the I-44 West corridor for the Rolla and Springfield route, or the other corridor pages linked there.
The Longest Drives We See
It’s not just the close-in suburbs. People come from Springfield (about 3.5 hours), Joplin (about 4.5 hours), Kennett (about 3 hours 20 minutes), and Effingham, Illinois (about 2 hours). The honest note on those trips: they’re day trips, and we’ll tell you that plainly. But the patients who make them are usually saving enough money that the drive pays for itself, and often more.
How Out-of-Town Patients Make It Work
The practical side of a long drive matters as much as the price. Patients usually plan the trip the night before: the order faxed or emailed ahead, loose clothes without metal, and directions saved. We’re at 12152 Tesson Ferry Road in St. Louis, a few minutes off I-270 Exit 2, with free parking right at the door. Same-day slots make the logistics easier, because you can confirm the appointment before you leave home rather than booking weeks out and hoping nothing shifts. Some patients pair the scan with a St. Louis errand; most just come, scan, and head back. Either way, the whole appointment runs about an hour, so the drive is the longest part of the day. That’s a strange thing to say about a medical visit, and it’s worth saying: for a $399 flat-rate scan, the drive is usually the most time-consuming part of the entire experience.
Before You Decide
A doctor’s order is required for every scan, and same-day slots are often available — so you can call at 9 AM and scan the same day. The pricing page lays out exactly what’s included so you know the total before you commit. If the numbers make sense for you, call (314) 834-7226 and we’ll find a slot that fits the drive.