Shields Mri

Wow, cut off three days vs. MRI at the hospital and it was several thousands (yes thousands) less than at the hospital. Since there were two MRIs at the same time the second was ½ off. Plus they actually answer the phone (no voice mail) and you can ask how the paperwork goes.
The person I spoke to was actually cordial too. The medical profession should take a cue from these folks.

I had an MRI scheduled for 12pm on a Sunday at Shields MRI. At around 11:30am I received a phone call. Shields had had a cancellation and offered to take me early. I knew I that I couldn’t make it there much earlier than 12 so I declined. I arrived at Shields around 11:55 and there was another man in the waiting room filling out paperwork. He was admitted around 12:00. I then filled out my paperwork and sat and waited. After a long wait I was brought to a very small room and asked to wait again. After another long wait I was finally brought in to have my MRI. It was 12:55 so asked John the technician why there was such a long delay. After a long pause he told me that the patient before me was a «very complicated case». I then asked why there was someone else scheduled for the same time as me and why did I have to sit and wait while they did his MRI. He then admitted that they had called him when they had a cancellation but he didn’t arrive until right before my scheduled appointment time. I let him know how upset I was but he was unapologetic. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with this. In my opinion it is just common sense that if you call someone around 11:30 that they will probably not be able to arrive until at least 11:50. This was a huge inconvenience to me as I had to wait an hour and during that time no one told me I was going to have an extended delay. I was late to work. I work on commission and I might have missed out on around $ 100. Shields got $ 2700 for my MRI and this made me feel that they just want to get as many in as possible throughout the course of the day without caring whether or not they are wasting their patients time.

A huge disappointment turned into an extraordinary act of kindness, and going above, beyond and then some — from Katie the Manager of scheduling and a few others. All so I could have an updated MRI for a hugely important Doctors appt with a surgeon.
Still can’t believe what they did for me. Speechless.

My specialist and shoulder surgeon over at the Cambridge Hospital referred me to this specific Shields MRI because he knew the staff there and told me that they were some of the best in New England; I followed his instructions and proceeded to go there on a quiet, week day. After driving along and getting off the highway, I few blocks later, I was parked in front of the building.
I proceeded to check-​in and within minutes I was in a gown and getting ready for what was, in my opionion, the worst two minutes of my life. I had a procedure called an arthrogram, on my right shoulder, which essentially consists in injecting both numbing agents and a special dye into my shoulder joints. The dye reacts with the MRI machine and enables for better and more accurate results.
Originally only three people were present for the arthrogram but within seconds, as the throbbing pain shot down my shoulder, I was quickly surrounded by not 3 but 5 people. I proceeded to accidentally jerk and kick one of the staff members and blackout temporarily. It was a lovely experience, needless to say. Eventually the pain settled to a more tolerable level and after picking an XM station to listen to in my headset, I went into the horizontal, closed MRI machine for 45 minutes. After suffering through the arthrogram, the claustrophobia-​inducing MRI machine was a piece of cake. My only complaint was that I could barely hear the radio in the headset, that machine is loud.
Overall, despite the pain, my experience there was pretty good — the staff was doing a great job — it’s not really their fault if the procedure hurt — it varies per person but often times the pain is a reliable constant — the facility was clean and well maintained. I just hope that I don’t ever have to go there, again. Ever.
Oh and again, sorry for kicking you, it was accidental. I swear.

Dad was the first MRI of the day (6:15 AM, ouch!) The receptionist was very friendly, had coffee brewed and waiting, and was very helpful with Dad’s intake, billing questions, etc.
He had previously been at Dana Farber for an MRI but he felt «closed in» in the machine, so DF referred him to Shileds. Unfortunately, they had the same equipment, but they were sensitive to his needs, gave him head phones with music, an eye mask, etc. I’ve had a dozen MRI’s and never had these luxuries.
He was in and out in 45 minutes, anxiety eased. Very clean facility and waiting area, with large flat screen TV to keep people like me entertained while waiting for the patient. Hopefully he won’t have to go back, but would choose Shields again if necessary.