Radiologist warns – Too few MRI machines in the country: situation is tense

Recently, problems have been reported in media reports, especially with magnetic resonance imaging (MR/MRI) in Vienna. According to the social security’s online waiting time survey, those affected have to wait up to about 60 days for an MRI examination in diagnostic centers in the federal capital. The portal also shows comparable periods for institutions in Vorarlberg, for example.

In 2017, then Health Minister Pamela Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ) took measures to ensure that computed tomography (CT) examinations are carried out within a maximum of ten working days and MRI examinations within a maximum of twenty working days, or faster in urgent cases .

The situation for patients subsequently improved. The situation was different then, reports Frühwald. All institutes had limited contracts and were no longer paid after reaching the previous year’s turnover, so the technically possible capacities were not exhausted.

The need for MRI examinations has increased
“Now we have the situation where all devices available outside hospitals are operating at 100 percent capacity,” said the head of a diagnostic institute in St. Pölten. More and more medical treatment guidelines require an MRI if certain diseases or injuries are suspected, because, for example, only one in ten possible diagnoses can be recognized on an X-ray, Frühwald explained about the increased need for such examinations. In addition, there is a lack of staff, “which currently makes the situation difficult and leads to further waiting times.”

Exam time reduced from 90 to 15 minutes
“We will not be able to solve the waiting time problem by speeding up the devices,” the university lecturer continued. In the early days of MR technology there were ‘time slots’ of 90 minutes per patient, but now we are down to ten to fifteen minutes, says Joachim Bogner, director of medical device manufacturer Siemens Healthineers Austria. Thanks to innovations, including the use of artificial intelligence, the duration of the research could be shortened without compromising the quality of the cross-sectional images. This helps to examine more patients per device, but “the technology is of course not the only panacea,” says Bogner.

“The big equipment plan is to blame,” Frühwald said. This is where Social Security and the state government decide “where something goes,” the doctor said, calling politicians to account. The decision criteria are “very difficult to understand”. The result is that outside hospitals there is a “dramatic” lack of equipment “that would be needed, especially during the MRI crisis, to deal with this situation,” Frühwald said.

Patients are increasingly paying for research themselves
Private MRI and CT machines are not covered by the major equipment plan, but their research costs are also not covered by social insurance. “The aim is by no means to ensure that patients have to pay anything extra or even cover the costs,” Frühwald emphasizes. It is striking that the offer is increasingly private and that those affected pay for the MRI themselves if they are seriously ill, according to the specialist.

Lead aprons as radiation protection have had their day
Radiation exposure from CT machines has decreased over the years, as have all other X-ray machines. That is why the professional association for radiology technology in Austria recently started a campaign to inform people that the classic lead apron for protection against radiation is largely outdated. Except for dental X-rays, this is largely avoided in radiological examinations. People have been used to wearing aprons for fifty years, now it is about making it clear to them that this is no longer necessary, says Frühwald.