Scan.com, which gives patients direct access to private medical imaging services, raises $12 million

Anyone in the UK who has tried to make a medical appointment with the NHS in recent times will know what an ordeal it can be, with median wait times for consultant-led elective care (i.e. pre-planned clinical treatment) currently sitting at around 14.6 weeks in England. This has led to an increase in the number of people turning to the private medical sector, a trend which some say heralds the start of a two-tier healthcare system where those with the financial means effectively pay to expedite their treatment. .

At the same time, a struggling public health system has created fertile ground for health tech startups to flourish, tackling everything from staffing shortages to improving the tech stack of radiologists.

One such company is Scan.com, a London-based medical imaging start-up that connects patients to scanning centres, covering MRI, ultrasound, CT and X-ray. The company today announced that it has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round, as it seeks to build on its recent US launch.

The problem, according to Scan.com, is that even if a patient is able to book a doctor's appointment in the first place (a procedure which is becoming increasingly difficult in itself in the UK), the subsequent referral process to get a proper scan can take several months, after which they may have to wait even longer to receive the results.

Scan.com has partnered with hundreds of scan centers to enable individuals to access medical imaging services with or without a referral from a GP, with user-friendly reports filled with clickable diagrams delivered in a week.

Scan.com Report Image Credits: Scan.com< /p>

To use Scan.com's online referral system, users pay upfront to secure their scan, then they are booked for a virtual consultation with a clinician within 48 hours.

Prices vary depending on a number of factors such as location and type of scan required, but ballpark figures range from £180 to £395 or more, and include consultation, scan and all the following -about reports.

If a scan identifies a serious issue, the patient enters Scan.com's "urgent results lane", where a clinical team contacts the patient and their doctor to explain the results and offer advice on what to do next .

But the ability to bypass a GP (GP) and go for a medical analysis himself could certainly lead to all sorts of time-wasting efforts - and if a patient doesn't actually need of an analysis?

“Our clinical team provides consultation and advice to all patients once they have booked, which is an essential part of the service we provide,” explained Scan.com CEO Charlie Bullock, at TechCrunch. "Their time is included in our scanning rates, which is why we take payment at the time of booking. During the consultation, the clinician can change the type of exam, add or change body parts and s to ensure that the examination is both safe and medically justified for the needs of the patient."

Bullock added that if the clinician determines there is no warrant for the scan, Scan.com reimburses the full cost and provides guidance on what the patient should do next. "It happens in about 3% of cases," Bullock said.

But most patients who are in the thinking stage of CT scans have probably already had medical evaluations that suggest a CT scan might be needed to get to the root of their...