All of the exams performed by Salem Radiology require an "order" from a doctor. This "order" can be made via one of our own order forms (available below) or via a doctor's own self-styled order pad. Orders may be faxed to our offices or in the case of x-ray services, brought with a patient at the time of their visit.

Order forms

Salem

North Andover

Methuen

CT

MRI

PET

Mammography (Annual Screening)

Regular screening exams (recommended annually for women 40 and older) are handled a bit differently from most other exams. These exams may be scheduled at any time by a patient or by a patient's doctor by calling either our Salem or North Andover office. Regardless of how the exam is scheduled, we will work with your doctor's office to ensure that the order is properly documented.

X-Ray (chest, ankle, knee, etc ... )

Most of our x-ray patients simply "walk in" to one of our offices without an appointment and are seen in an expeditious manner. Typically, these patients are coming from having seen another doctor and will have an x-ray "order" with them; alternatively, doctors may fax an order to our offices before the patient arrives.

Fluoroscopy, Diagnostic Mammography, Ultrasound, Bone Densitometry, Biopsies and other Interventional Procedures

These exams are almost always scheduled by a doctor's office, often while the patient is still in the office. The doctor's office will schedule a time that works best for the patient (in the context of how soon the doctor would like to see the procedure done) and then fax an order to our office.

Patients certainly are free to call us subsequently at any time if they have questions about their upcoming exam or if they need to change the appointment.

Depending on the exam, our office may also contact the patient to gather some basic demographic data, any specific clinical information which may be required before the exam and to inform the patient of any specific preparation required for the exam.

CAT Scan

Our 64-Slice CT Scanner is so fast that patients can be accommodated very quickly, typically on a same day basis. Our staff always finds a way to create space in the schedule for an urgent case, which we see every day. As with our other exams, the first step is for a doctor to order the exam by faxing an order form to our office (attached below).

Unlike other exams, so-called high-end imaging like CT and MRI in many cases require a prior authorization from the patient's insurance company. Our team has become very adept at working with our referring physician partners to ensure these "prior auths" are in place prior to the exam time. Most of the time, prior auths can be obtained in a matter of minutes with the help of the patient's doctor but some insurance plans can be a bit stickier to deal with and in turn require a bit more time.

MRI and PET Scans

MRI and PET services may be scheduled either by faxing the order forms provided above or by contacting Merrimack Valley MRI or New England PET Imaging directly (website links below).

Merrimack Valley MRI

New England PET Imaging

Please Don't Forget to Bring Your Other Results!

Regardless of what type of exam has been ordered, it is important that our patients - with their doctors' assistance - remember to bring copies of reports, images or the results of other related studies with them to their appointment.

Our clinical team takes pride in providing the most comprehensive diagnostic results possible; evaluating the results of your study at Salem Radiology in the context of other pertinent clinical information, including exams you have had performed elsewhere is critical to providing you and your doctor with the best possible answers to the clinical questions posed.