OU Medicine Imaging at Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City: Fast MRI and CT Access Without Long Waits

OU Medicine Imaging at Baptist Medical Center is a hospital-based diagnostic center offering MRI, CT, ultrasound, and X-ray services in midtown Oklahoma City, with same-day and next-day appointment availability for most imaging orders and walk-in capability for emergencies.

What this place is

OU Medicine Imaging operates within Baptist Medical Center, a 350-bed acute-care hospital affiliated with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The imaging department serves both hospital inpatients and outpatients, with a dedicated outpatient imaging section that operates independently of hospital scheduling constraints. Most referrals come from OU Medicine primary care and specialty physicians across Oklahoma City, though the center accepts orders from non-OU providers as well.

Services and pricing

The department performs diagnostic MRI (1.5T and 3T machines), multidetector CT, ultrasound (abdominal, vascular, obstetric, musculoskeletal), fluoroscopy, and digital radiography. Pricing follows standard hospital facility charges: a routine abdominal ultrasound typically costs $150 to $250 out-of-pocket for uninsured patients after facility discounts; an abdominal CT ranges from $800 to $1,500; MRI studies of the brain or spine run $1,200 to $2,000. Insurance patients pay their contracted coinsurance or copay; copays for imaging at hospital facilities often run $100 to $250 depending on the plan. Baptist Medical Center offers financial assistance for uninsured and underinsured patients; call the main hospital number to request a financial counselor. Prices vary weekly based on contract updates with insurance carriers; confirm current rates with the imaging department before scheduling.

How it compares to other Oklahoma City options

OU Medicine Imaging competes primarily with Imaging Care Centers at Norman Regional Health (independent outpatient center with no hospital affiliation, typically 20 percent lower facility charges but limited to outpatient cases) and St. Anthony Hospital's diagnostic imaging department (larger inpatient volume, similar pricing, more extensive orthopedic imaging focus). Choose Baptist if your physician is part of OU Medicine and you want integrated chart access and faster referral turnaround; choose Norman Regional Imaging Care if you are uninsured or price-sensitive and your imaging order is straightforward; choose St. Anthony if your order requires orthopedic subspecialist review or if you are already a St. Anthony patient.

Who it suits and who it does not suit

Baptist Medical Center imaging works well for patients with complex or urgent imaging needs (same-day CT for chest pain, stat ultrasound for abdominal pain) because emergency coordination with the hospital is direct. It suits OU Medicine patients whose physicians need rapid imaging-to-clinical decision integration. It does not suit purely price-conscious patients without insurance (outpatient centers have lower overhead and negotiate lower rates); those patients should call Norman Regional first. It does not suit patients who need weekend or evening imaging (Baptist's outpatient imaging section runs weekday business hours only, though hospital emergency imaging is 24/7).

What the first visit involves

Call the imaging department directly at the Baptist Medical Center main number with your referral order in hand. Provide your insurance information, ordering physician's name and clinic, clinical reason for the exam, and any allergies (particularly to contrast dye if CT or certain MRI studies are planned). The scheduler will confirm your appointment (usually 1 to 5 business days out) and mail or email detailed preparation instructions (fasting for abdominal ultrasound, removal of metal for MRI). Arrive 15 minutes early to check in at the hospital front desk and proceed to the imaging waiting area on the designated floor. Bring your insurance card and photo ID. If you are a new patient to OU Medicine, you may be asked to complete a brief history form; existing OU patients' records pull automatically.

Hours, parking, and logistics

The outpatient imaging section operates Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments outside these hours are not scheduled through the outpatient center; hospital emergency imaging is available 24/7 via the ER. Baptist Medical Center is located at 3300 Northwest Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73112 (midtown, near the OU Health campus). Outpatient parking is available in a hospital lot adjacent to the imaging entrance; parking validation is provided at check-in. The imaging waiting area is accessible by elevator from the parking level. MRI exams typically take 30 to 45 minutes; CT takes 15 to 20 minutes. Results are reported to the ordering physician within 24 hours (stat reads for emergency orders are completed within one hour).

Baptist Medical Center's imaging department fills the gap between true emergencies (for which the hospital ER serves better) and non-urgent outpatient imaging in independent centers, making it essential for OU Medicine patients needing coordinated diagnostic support and for anyone whose imaging order suggests acute or post-operative complications.