Unnecessary MRI

I was having shoulder pain so went to an orthopedic. Before even seeing me, they did an x-ray and then once the dr. came in, we had a short discussion and then he said I should get an MRI with a contrast injection. I thought it was a rotator cuff injury just flaring up again and mentioned that to the dr. The MRI was done right downstairs from their office at an affiliated radiology clinic. 3 weeks have gone by and I haven't been contacted by the dr. and the pain has largely went away. I found out that the MRI was about $1k, which goes towards my deductible.

Being a shoulder specialist, I suspect he had some idea of what the pain was and could have recommended just waiting a bit before ordering the MRI. I accept that I should have asked about the fee before the MRI, but I suspect the dr. ordered the MRI just to generate the fee. What are options for what I can do at this point besides just paying the $1k?

submitted by /u/nolegggz
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