By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

A firm is bringing equipment for vascular testing and bone density to Valley City next Tuesday, but Mercy Hospital representatives are skeptical.
Heartland Health and Imaging is offering testing at the Valley City Senior Center on Second Ave. S.E., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
JoAnn Korf, Senior Center site manager, said, “The owner offered this thing and said he'd send some literature. I talked to him on the phone and he said it was OK if we scheduled it.”
The company will set up booths with their ultrasound equipment to perform four tests: carotid artery, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral arterial disease and bone density screening.
“We check your risk for stroke with ultrasound. It's very important to have done, because 99 percent of the time strokes have no symptoms,” said Cory Bailey, owner-operator of Heartland Health.
Each vascular test costs $40, the bone density test $30. A package of the three vascular tests costs $110, and the complete package $125. Baily said the tests performed in a hospital can cost hundreds of dollars apiece.
Bailey said, “You can't just go into a doctor's without symptoms and ask for the tests, because insurance won't pay for it. Any one of these tests in a hospital can cost from $300 to $500.”
However, Brad Schiller, manager of the Radiology Department of Mercy Hospital is skeptical about the service offered.
“I'd want to know if they are served by a radiology group, and how is it you can perform an exam without a valid reason?” Schiller said.
Schiller confirmed that a carotid bilateral test costs $552, and an abdominal aortic aneurysm test $378, but said the tests have to be interpreted by a radiologist, who'll want to know the credentials of the technician administering the ultrasound.

For full story, see Thursday's edition of the Valley City Times-Record.