Facility Management

Analysts forecast slower growth in 2000 Healthcare information technology vendors and consulting firms may find themselves running fast just to stay in place over the next few years. Core markets

Healthcare facilities should begin planning to implement digital radiography, including a full digital information infrastructure such as a PACS. So says the latest edition of the Health Technology Forecast, which offers specific recommendations

During deregulation talks in March, Clinton administration trade officials urged members of Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare in Tokyo to expedite the process by which American companies sell new and improved medical equipment.As part of last

Mobile P.E.T. Systems of San Diego unveiled the first mobile cardiac positron emission tomography unit March 12 at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Anaheim, CA, and is starting its first service route in April in the Los Angeles area.The

Nuclear cardiac perfusion studies are growing “by leaps and bounds,” according to an industry analyst, while cardiac MR and cardiac CT hover around 1% of total studies in those modalities.In 1993, cardiac perfusion studies made up only 38% of

Florida, home of Epcot and NASA, is about to launch the largest filmless imaging center in the U.S. While other facilities may process more images annually, the Pensacola imaging center, a new 36,000-square-foot freestanding edifice, ranks as the largest

Telemedicine market projected to grow 20% in 2000New report analyzes growth factors, business opportunitiesContrary to the nagging perception of telemedicine as an industry that has yet to get off the ground, the global telemedicine

Standards Update: Integrating systems outside the radiology departmentHerman Oosterwijk, president, OTech Inc.The first meeting of the new DICOM Working Group 20, a joint DICOM/HL7 committee that deals

Industry predictions proved correct last month when GE Medical Systems received premarket approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its full-field digital mammography unit, Senographe 2000D. The news made GE the first company to win the right to

Mobile PET provider Mobile PET Systems of San Diego has signed a five-year contract with Torrance Memorial Medical Center, a 380-bed facility based in Torrance, CA. The contract includes mobile services, trained technologists, and clinical support.The

A study published by SMG Marketing Group of Chicago shows that the number of U.S. imaging centers profiled by the company increased in the first three quarters of 1999 by 5% compared to the year before, climbing from 2661 to 2801. The imaging center

Manufacturers of magnetic source imaging (MSI) devices have long struggled to find a niche for their technology in a healthcare environment focused on cost-cutting measures. In a move it hopes will strengthen its position in a small, startup market,

As expected, ultrasound contrast developer Sonus Pharmaceuticals has reorganized its marketing relationship with Abbott Laboratories International Division (SCAN 10/13/99). The two firms agreed in 1996 that Abbott would have exclusive rights to

EndoSonics received good news last month when the American Medical Association released CPT codes that will enable physicians to be reimbursed for the diagnostic use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The codes go into effect Jan. 1, 2000. Prior to the

CTI PET Systems (CPS), the joint venture between CTI and Siemens Nuclear Medicine Group, has expanded its partnership with Mobile PET Systems. The two companies announced last month the launch of a mobile PET operation that will serve European hospitals.

With hospitals demanding service packages that go beyond maintenance and system repair, imaging service providers are being challenged to offer their clients more comprehensive contracts, according to a new report by market research firm Frost &

Hologic is suing Fleet Business Credit Corp. (formerly Sanwa Business Credit Corp.) over a contract dispute involving Hologic’s bone densitometers. Through its now-discontinued “strategic alliance program,” Bedford, MA-based Hologic sold

Firm also plans for new ownership, recapitalizationImaging services provider Alliance Imaging is diversifying its portfolio. The Anaheim, CA-based company has purchased Acclaim Medical, a Southern California-based mobile PET services provider.

MDT makes bid for Web-based PACS firmAcquisition of TIMS would mark entry into digital image managementMR imaging center operator Medical Device Technologies has taken a preliminary step toward entering the PACS market. The San

Questar acquisition will build APP’s stable to 134 centersThe imaging center industry has a new powerhouse. Radiology services firm American Physician Partners has announced an agreement to acquire imaging center operator Questar Imaging.

Imaging center chain Medical Resources has signed an agreement with RGC International Investors that gives Medical Resources the right to purchase part or all of its preferred stock owned by RGC through Sept. 30. Prior to the agreement, the Hackensack,

Prospects strongest in PET, therapy planning, and HISNuclear medicine vendor ADAC Laboratories is enduring a tough period of business right now, particularly in its relationship with investors and the financial markets. The company no longer

Company plans to begin selling Virgo this yearThe industry’s newest vendor of MRI scanners will have instant name recognition when its open scanner is released into the U.S., possibly later this year. The fledgling company is already a player

Hybrid systems, expanded reimbursement take center stage at SNM meetingFor vendors at this year’s Society of Nuclear Medicine show in Los Angeles, the industry’s hard times of the mid-1990s were only a memory. While the meeting suffered

Acclaim Medical set to begin PET service in AugustYet another mobile PET operator will soon be traversing the freeways of southern California. The new arrival is Acclaim Medical, a start-up company founded by a former Alliance Imaging executive to