Med Group, Veterans Affairs team up to run mobile MRI Published Aug. 27, 2007 By 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office Senior Airman Megan P. Lyon MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- -- After three years of planning, a joint venture between the 366th Medical Group's Diagnostic Imaging Department and the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center moved forward when a mobile magnetic resonance imaging machine started service here this month. "We expect to save the Air Force $300,000 to $400,000 annually by having patients use the mobile MRI instead of being sent to Boise", said Maj. Micheal B. Johnson, 366th Medical Support Squadron chief of diagnostic imaging. The Department of Veterans Affairs bought the mobile MRI machine, a $2.1 million project, with money set aside by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Congress created the act to encourage the development of sharing initiatives between the VA and the Department of Defense. Both the VA and DoD are required to contribute 15 million each year from fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2007 into the Joint Incentive Fund. On average, the hospital anticipates approximately 1,500 patients will undergo MRI scans per year. "The most common ailments we see here, especially with retirees, are back, knee, shoulder and neck problems," said Brenda Anderson, from the MRI Center of Idaho. "We also see patients for neurological and pathological ailments." The base hospital and the VA center in Boise will equally share the mobile MRI machine on a rotating schedule. "We're looking at early 2008 for the mobile MRI to begin rotating between the two locations," Major Johnson added. The mobile MRI is available to active-duty military members, their families and retirees.