Mequon-based Smart Choice MRI has received a $3 million investment from Appleton-based ThedaCare for its planned expansion outside the state.
Smart Choice, which offers any type of MRI at its retail locations for $600 or less, says it is the first MRI provider in the country to do so. According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, the average cost of an MRI is $2,948.
Smart Choice has 64 employees at locations in Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Richfield, Waukesha, Kenosha and Appleton, and plans to open another eight clinics this year in the Chicago and Twin Cities markets. Its four Chicago area clinics are expected to open by April, while the four Twin Cities locations will open in the second half of the year. For each new clinic, the company will hire about six employees.
ThedaCare and Smart Choice talked about seeing each other not as competitors, but as partners, said Rick Anderson, chief executive officer of Smart Choice MRI
“You’re seeing a shift from volume to value. We’re all trying to provide the best service for the patient at the right price,” Anderson said.
With 35 clinics in 14 counties caring for 200,000 patients per year, ThedaCare is the largest health system in northeastern Wisconsin. The provider cited Smart Choice’s model as a benefit to consumers and said the partnership would help the two organizations drive further value for patients. Doctors at ThedaCare will use situational discretion to determine whether patients should get an MRI in-house or at Smart Choice.
“We look for partners who are culturally and collectively a good fit,” said Keith Livingston, senior vice president of systems of care support at ThedaCare. “Smart Choice MRI shares our vision to put patients and consumers at the center of the health care experience. We sometimes collaborate with competitors in the best interests of consumers. In this case, we admire Smart Choice MRI’s service-orientated, consumer-driven model for imaging, which we can learn from and apply to many aspects of our business. Additionally, this partnership is consistent with our need to learn how to better meet consumers’ needs in the evolving retail health care marketplace.”
ThedaCare will now have a seat on Smart Choice’s board of directors. It is the first health care system to invest in Smart Choice.
“We’re proud to partner with such a forward-thinking health care provider,” Anderson said. “ThedaCare understands that offering choice to its community is the right thing to do. With consumers assuming more of their medical expenses than ever before, this has never been more important.”
Smart Choice closed on a $6.5 million funding round in December, led by Milwaukee-based F Street Capital LLC.
“Prior to that, it was mainly angel investors and individuals,” Anderson said.
When Anderson came on board as CEO about two-and-a-half years ago, he began scaling the company, which attracted strategic investors’ attention, he said.
