Westfield Hospital Adds Mobile MRI
Westfield Memorial Hospital, part of Allegheny Health Network, has launched a new mobile MRI unit to expand its imaging capabilities. The service will be available two days a week, demonstrating how hospitals are using mobile solutions to increase access and build out freestanding imaging capacity.
The move to mobile MRI is part of a broader, capital-intensive strategy at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) to expand its imaging footprint. Over the past several years, AHN and Highmark Health have invested over $400 million to enhance the AHN Imaging Institute, including a $100 million renovation at Allegheny General Hospital and a $50 million diagnostic imaging center at West Penn Hospital. This investment aims to provide comprehensive imaging care close to home for patients. This strategy aligns with a nationwide shift of imaging services away from traditional hospital settings. A 2024 analysis suggested that shifting imaging from hospital-based settings to alternative sites could save the U.S. healthcare system between $113.8 billion and $147.7 billion annually without compromising clinical outcomes. For commercial health plans, the proportion of imaging conducted in hospitals could drop by 25 percentage points. The global mobile imaging market is projected to grow from $29.4 billion in 2020 to $53.8 billion by 2030. Another forecast projects the market will reach $21.13 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 4.07% from 2026. This growth is driven by the demand for more accessible and convenient healthcare, particularly in rural or underserved areas where mobile units can bridge significant gaps in care. Reimbursement rates are a key factor driving this site-of-care shift. In 2021, the median Medicare payment for an imaging service was 30% higher when performed in a hospital outpatient department compared to a physician's office. However, the 2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) final rule included only a modest 2.6% increase to the conversion factor, putting financial pressure on hospital-based imaging departments. This expansion into mobile and outpatient imaging comes amid a critical labor shortage. In 2025, vacancy rates for MRI technologists hit 17.4%, and for CT technologists, they reached an all-time high of 19.4%. The demand for imaging services is expected to outpace the supply of radiologists through at least 2055, forcing health systems to leverage solutions like teleradiology and AI-powered workflows to manage increasing volumes. Equipment manufacturers are responding with innovative technology tailored for mobile deployment. Siemens Healthineers' MAGNETOM Free.Max, for example, is a lightweight, compact whole-body scanner with an 80cm wide bore to accommodate more patients. It uses less than one liter of liquid helium for cooling, drastically reducing infrastructure and operating costs compared to traditional MRI units that require hundreds of liters and costly quench pipes.
