Facility Management

New policy raised the ire of radiologistsThe budget negotiations that snarled the U.S. government in Januaryalso caused the Health Care Financing Administration to postponeits technical advisory committee meeting from early February toMarch 26

Centocor withdrew Myoscint's PLA in 1993A Food and Drug Administration panel in January recommended approvalfor Centocor's Myoscint, a monoclonal antibody-based imaging agentthat was pulled from FDA consideration two years ago after

The expansionist trend of imaging services provider MediTek Healthcontinues. The Miami company announced this month that it willopen its 14th center, a multimodality facility to be built nearBirmingham, AL. The new center will be called Greystone

Imaging services provider MediTek Health of Miami is planningto open its 13th imaging center through an agreement reached witha New Jersey hospital, according to MediTek's parent, Heico ofHollywood, FL. The new facility, United MRI, will be located onthe

Damadian sees many routes to company comebackLess than a month after its first major exhibition in seven years,MRI pioneer Fonar has announced the receipt of five signed andfunded orders for its new Quad series of open-style MRI scanners.Another 10

Osteoporosis drug raises all corporate boatsLunar and Hologic aren't the only firms benefiting from increasedinterest in bone densitometry. The same good news that has ledto improved sales for the two bone densitometry segment leadershas

PET camera developer Positron is experiencing a shortage of workingcapital as it moves to fill a surge of orders it has receivedthis year for its PET technology. Positron received five orders for PET cameras this year, thehighest number in one year in

Positron has received an order for a Posicam HZL PET camera, thefourth such order the Houston company has won since April, whenthe Health Care Financing Administration granted Medicare reimbursementfor rubidium-82 studies (SCAN 4/12/95). The order was

Company pursues imaging center acquisitions Imaging services firm Medical Resources is proving that thereis life after managed care for the imaging center industry. TheClifton, NJ, firm decided to target managed-care contracts earlyon and has

Generic uses of term are okay, plaintiff saysThe owner of a Hayward, CA, imaging center that specializes inopen-architecture MRI has gone to federal court to assert trademarkrights over the name "Open MRI" for magnetic resonanceimaging

Medical imaging vendors that target China find a land of chaosand opportunity Cracking the world's largest potential market requires good researchand patienceMedical imaging companies attracted by the prospectof equipment sales in the

Restrictions will limit application of policyTwo federal agencies whose regulation of medical devices has madethem the targets of industry critics have jointly developed apolicy that promises to increase the access of Medicare patientsto new

Feds to pay when x-ray angio is contraindicatedThe Health Care Financing Administration last month expanded MedicarePart B coverage for magnetic resonance angiography of the heador neck in cases when x-ray angiography is contraindicated. The

NT Mobile scanner travels fully ramped upPhilips Medical Systems hopes to inject some life into the mobileMRI industry by releasing a transportable version of its 1.5-teslaGyroscan ACS-NT scanner. The magnet is unique among 1.5-teslasystems in

Bone densitometry competitors Lunar and Hologic are enjoying asurge in demand for their products thanks to Medicare reimbursementof dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Unfortunately, theongoing legal battle between the arch-rivals is making it

HCFA granted Medicare reimbursement anywayThe Office of Health Technology Assessment displayed lukewarmenthusiasm for cardiac PET imaging using rubidium-82 in a studythat formed the basis for Medicare reimbursement of the procedure,which began

FDA roadblock awaits Des Plaines radiopharmacyRadiopharmacy chain Medi-Physics and cyclotron developer CTI Serviceshave entered a joint-venture agreement to operate a regional PETradiopharmacy to supply the Chicago area with

Decision bars reimbursement for low-field scans in private clinicsA German regulatory body dealt a major setback to the MRI industrylast week when it set stringent criteria that effectively banfederal insurance reimbursement in the country for

Policy makers at the Health Care Financing Administration havefinalized a national coverage policy for MR angiography that willsoon be published in one of the agency's coverage issues manuals,a HCFA official confirmed late last month. HCFA officials

Health Images claims center revenue fell shortHealth Images and MedAlliance are at loggerheads over the sizeof a contingent payment Health Images agreed to make as part ofits purchase of 15 MedAlliance imaging centers. The dispute willnot affect

Bone densitometry firm Lunar said its ongoing legal battle withHologic will result in unexpectedly high legal costs that willeat into profits for the fourth quarter (end-June). Lunar willprobably post profits for the quarter that are lower comparedto the

Nuclear medicine struggles to dispel gloomy predictions of modality's futureVendors must work together to improve specialty's fortunesLast month's Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Minneapolisfound the nuclear medicine community at yet

Industry hopes to piggy-back abbreviated NDAsAnger has turned to action as the PET community struggles to cometo grips with federal initiatives that threaten to hamstring themodality. PET practitioners have launched a major effort to comeinto

Seattle site is first in national networkFast CT developer Imatron this month opened its first HeartScanImaging clinic in Seattle to provide coronary artery disease riskassessment studies. The clinic is the first in what Imatron hopeswill be a

PET camera vendor Positron expected to benefitThe long-suffering PET industry received a needed boost last monthwhen the Health Care Financing Administration indicated that itwould provide Medicare reimbursement for myocardial perfusionstudies