Facility Management

Company must work on getting reimbursement for productThe Food and Drug Administration this month dispelled any notion that it might be dragging its feet on the approval of ultrasound contrast agents when it gave the go-ahead on Nov. 3 to Bracco

The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) appears to have stepped back from its plan to cut Medicare payments for outpatient medical imaging procedures. In the Nov. 2 Federal Register, the agency published its decision to maintain current

HCFA tightens control on reimbursementsAfter years of threatening to curb outpatient healthcare costs, the Health Care Financing Administration has finally put some bite into its bark. Over the last five months, HCFA has published two rules in the

PET unit installed at private hospital in HawaiiJapanese photomultiplier tube supplier Hamamatsu Photonics is pursuing the research side of positron emission tomography with a new PET camera the company has installed at an imaging center in

Physician practice management firm American Physician Partners continues its imaging center buying binge. The Dallas company announced last month that it acquired the four imaging centers of WB&A Imaging, a 15-physician radiology practice in

Imaging center firm HealthCare Imaging Services of Middletown, NJ, plans to beef up its presence in its home state by acquiring five imaging centers. The aggregate purchase price of the centers is $21 million, and HCIS expects the facilities to generate

Firm plans slow but steady expansionNature abhors a vacuum, and the imaging center market is no exception. Several smaller companies are looking to fill the void left by the temporary withdrawal of U.S. Diagnostic and Medical Resources from active

ISO finally begins sales of InnerVision scannerIt helps to use levers when prying open a new imaging niche. Independent service organization COHR of Chatsworth, CA, hopes to leverage its extensive network of field service engineers to give the

Company seeks to be key medical instruments providerSince the mid-1990s, medical imaging industry observers have been waiting for the image-guided surgery segment to come to fruition. Growth has been slow, but some medical device companies claim

Per-Se installs ProgRIS at U.S. Diagnostic sitesPer-Se Technologies has announced that imaging center chain US Diagnostic has completed a successful pilot implementation of the Atlanta-based company's ProgRIS radiology information system in the

The president and CEO of Syncor International's Comprehensive Medical Imaging center business has left the company after only five weeks on the job, the Woodland Hills, CA, firm reported last month. James Usdan resigned from CMI effective July 10, just

Purchases may reflect trend toward niche-market PPMsIn a fluctuating healthcare market dominated by managed care, stability can be hard to find, especially for private-practice physicians. Since the early 1990s, physician practice management (PPM)

News provides psychological boost to contrast firmUltrasound contrast developer Sonus Pharmaceuticals took a giant step forward in its quest to market a proprietary ultrasound contrast agent. On July 20, the company announced that the European

Firm to focus on marketing ultrafast CT unitsWhen South San Francisco firm Imatron posted its 1997 fiscal results in April, it faced an all-too-familiar problem. Although sales of its premium ultrafast CT scanners had climbed, the company reported

Nuclear medicine and information systems vendor ADAC Laboratories reported record third-quarter results last month and predicted good times ahead due to the Health Care Financing Administration's publication of reimbursement rates for PET studies. The

Lunar's fourth-quarter financial results continue to reflect flat conditions in the bone densitometry market, as the Madison, WI-based company saw revenues decline 4% during its fourth quarter. For the period (end-June), revenues were $21.3 million,

Caprius of Wilmington, MA, has sealed an acquisition deal with Strax Breast Diagnostic Institute, a breast imaging center in Lauderhill, FL. Strax reported annual revenues of about $1.3 million for 1997 and received about 15,000 patients. The

Densitometry firms hope HCFA news will boost marketLunar of Madison, WI, celebrated last month when the Food and Drug Administration approved the company’s Achilles+ ultrasonometer less than a week after the Health Care Financing

HCFA submits telemedicine proposal for commentReimbursement policy would exclude store-and-forward consultations Lack of Medicare reimbursement has long been considered a primary stumbling block to the implementation and expansion of

CompuMed of Manhattan Beach, CA, announced this month its intention to acquire the assets of Northeast Imaging Center of East Orange, NJ. The deal will increase CompuMed's revenues by about 50% and will give the firm access to a medical imaging operation

Cyclotron developer forecasts shortage of FDG in futureIn an effort to keep pace with growing demand for F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), P.E.T.Net Pharmaceutical Services of Norcross, GA, plans to establish up to 33 more cyclotron sites throughout

The nuclear medicine community has reason for celebration following the Health Care Financing Administration's June 3 announcement of a national average payment for PET scans. According to ADAC Laboratories of Milpitas, CA, HCFA stated that its Medicare

HCFA decision on Medicare PET payment level gives lift to SNM attendeesThe remarkable comeback of the nuclear medicine industry continues unabated. Attendees at this month’s Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Toronto found that the

Company snatched rights to UGM camera from GENuclear medicine vendor ADAC Laboratories plans to use next month’s Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Toronto as a launching pad for its foray into the dedicated PET market. ADAC on June 1

Executives at imaging center chain U.S. Diagnostic believe the firm is back on track following three straight quarters of losses. The West Palm Beach, FL-based firm posted a 6% increase in revenue and a net profit during its first quarter.For the period