Upper Austria plans more MRI scanners as demand rises

Upper Austria plans to add MRI scanners as demand grows, ORF reports, with hospitals in Schärding and Bad Ischl set to receive the equipment in the coming years.

Patients in the state wait an average of 30 days for an MRI appointment this year, up from 25 days last year. A recent analysis for social insurance found that waiting times in Upper Austria are longer than in most other Austrian states.

Christine Haberlander, the state’s deputy governor responsible for health, told ORF that social insurance had lagged behind in providing MRI capacity in Upper Austria for years.

The state has launched an initiative to increase the number of scanners. There are currently 28, and another began operating at Freistadt Hospital in October. MRI scanners are also available at eight outpatient doctors’ practices and five private doctors’ practices.

More than 86,000 MRI examinations were carried out in Upper Austria most recently.