Start with the core idea
Identical scan. Identical read. Very different price.
An MRI performed at a hospital outpatient department and the same MRI performed at a freestanding imaging center produce the same images, interpreted by a board-certified radiologist, for a fraction of the price difference in clinical value — because there isn't one.
Hospital-based imaging typically carries a facility fee that freestanding centers do not. That single line item is why the price of an MRI can differ by a multiple, not a percentage, between two locations twenty minutes apart.
Most employers don't realize this. Almost no employees do. Nobody hands them a price list, and the ordering physician usually refers within their own system by default — not out of bad intent, but because that's how the order set works.
The opportunity: imaging is elective enough to plan, common enough to matter, and standardized enough that steering does not compromise care. That combination is rare.
Steerage without sacrifice
Employees are not being asked to accept less care, wait longer, or take a risk. They are being asked to drive to a different building. That is the easiest ask in benefits.
How to actually capture it
Four steps, in order
Find your imaging spend
Pull imaging claims from your carrier or TPA reporting. Look at count, average allowed amount, and site of care. You are looking for volume at hospital outpatient departments.
Identify the alternatives
Map the in-network freestanding imaging centers near your worksites and near where employees live. Confirm participation with the carrier, not with the website.
Tell people, repeatedly
One email does nothing. Onboarding, open enrollment, a break-room card, and a manager script. The message is one sentence: "Before you get an MRI, call this number."
Reduce the friction
Some plan designs waive or reduce cost-sharing for imaging at a designated center. Some programs provide concierge scheduling. Both dramatically outperform information alone.
Featured provider
Tellica Imaging
Tellica Imaging is a freestanding advanced-imaging provider and an Intermountain Health company, operating flat-rate MRI, CT, and Calcium Score imaging with published pricing — including two Southern New Hampshire locations.
Flat-rate cash-pay pricing includes the radiologist's read fee and contrast when required. Costs may be lower with in-network insurance. Payment is due at the time of service. Source: Tellica Imaging New Hampshire flyer and partner materials. Pricing is subject to change — confirm directly with Tellica.
The read is the point
- Fellowship-trained radiologists
- Reports to patients and providers typically within one business day
- Cutting-edge CT and MRI equipment
- RadSite accredited and CMS approved
- Call-report service available to ordering providers
Built to remove friction
- Same-day appointments, subject to schedule availability
- In-house prior authorization team for accepted insurances
- Onsite advanced practitioners who can perform a clinical evaluation and place an imaging order
- Providers can fax orders to 603-782-0340
Transparent, flat rate
- One published price per exam type
- Radiologist read fee included
- Contrast included when required
- Per partner materials, a non-contrast exam repeated with contrast on radiologist recommendation is run at no additional cost
Southern New Hampshire
Nashua
345 Amherst Street
Nashua, NH 03063
Manchester
1100 Bicentennial Drive
Manchester, NH 03104
603-782-4330
Published hours: Monday–Saturday, 7 a.m.–7 p.m.
Confirm current hours and availability before referring an employee.
A cross-border note worth knowing
Massachusetts certificate-of-need rules push imaging north
Massachusetts requires a Determination of Need before a provider can acquire major imaging equipment. That regulatory step has, at times, meant Massachusetts referrers sending patients north into New Hampshire to find an independent imaging center with near-term availability and lower cost.
In April 2026 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health approved a Determination of Need application from Tellica Imaging — Massachusetts, LLC to acquire a CT unit, which suggests the freestanding imaging model is expanding into the Massachusetts side of this market as well.
Why an employer should care: imaging supply on both sides of the border is changing. The cheapest appropriate option for your employees in 2027 may not be the one you identified in 2025. This is worth re-checking annually, not once.
Sources: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Determination of Need decision letter, Tellica Imaging — Massachusetts, LLC, April 2026; Radiology Business reporting on Massachusetts certificate-of-need referral patterns, October 2025.
Imaging Cost Comparison Guide
A one-page employee handout: what an MRI is, why price varies by building, the questions to ask before scheduling, and where to call first.
See the resource libraryEmployer Imaging Consumerism Guide
The employer-side version: how to pull imaging claims, how to model the savings, how to design cost-sharing that actually moves behavior, and how to communicate it without scaring anyone.
See the resource libraryWant to know what imaging is costing you?
Send us your claims reporting and we will show you your imaging volume, where it is happening, and what steering it would realistically be worth — with the math shown.