Facility Management

Reimbursement issues retard center firm's growthImatron is in a bit of a bind. The South San Francisco, CA, vendor has seen an increase in sales of its premium ultrafast CT scanners this year, particularly in overseas markets. Imatron's financial

Imaging services firm InSight Health Services has signed an agreement to acquire an existing imaging center and to secure a majority ownership in the development of a new outpatient imaging center in the Midwest. The arrangement, which is expected to be

HCFA not likely to reimburse for telemedicine in near futureAgency's slow pace on issue draws ire of CongressThe Health Care Financing Administration will apparently soon inform Congress of its belief that any decision regarding

Increase in users should help FDG supplySometimes a competitor can turn out to be your best ally in business. Take the case of PET and coincidence detection imaging using gamma cameras. At first glance, PET appears to be under assault by its

Medical Resources continues to generate momentum in the consolidating imaging center industry. The Hackensack, NJ, company this month announced that it plans to add another 10 centers to its burgeoning network by acquiring the assets of Capstone

Company takes on segment dominated by NorlandThe peripheral densitometry market will soon have a new competitor. Densitometry firm Lunar, which has built its reputation largely through the sale of premium axial scanners, plans to introduce a

Panel’s decision supports insurance reimbursementThe National Cancer Institute took decisive action last week to resolve the ongoing controversy over whether women aged 40 to 49 should receive regular screening mammograms. The NCI's National

Company signs deals to add 23 centers to networkIs the momentum shifting in the race to consolidate the U.S. imaging center market? Medical Resources believes it is. The Hackensack, NJ, imaging services provider served notice that it is a force to

Company claims growth in table-scanner segmentBone densitometry manufacturer Norland Medical Systems reportedfinancial results for 1996 (end-December) that showed both revenueand net income growth. The company's fourth-quarter results werenot as

Biofield’s cancer diagnostic system could offer tough competition for alternative imaging modalities in the U.S.

NCI chief Klausner expresses shock at panel's findingsMammography advocates were poised for good news last month whenthe National Institutes of Health convened a meeting to developa consensus on the institute's position on mammography screeningfor

The Health Care Financing Administration has established reimbursementpolicies covering physicians for the use of intravascular ultrasound(IVUS) during therapeutic interventions, according to IVUS developerEndosonics of Rancho Cordova, CA. The policies

The chief executive of bone densitometry firm Norland MedicalSystems said this month that sales of the company's pDEXA lineof peripheral densitometers have bounced back after a slump lastyear caused by new Medicare reimbursement codes for

HCFA reimbursement move slams peripheral studiesThe dramatic surge of the U.S. bone densitometry market in 1996is helping to propel the development of new bone measurement systemsdesigned to ride the growth wave. The trend was evident at

Niche extremity scanners exempted from initial testingAmerican College of Radiology officials returned from their holiday break to face the prospect of distributing application packets to some 700 facilities that have lined up for the college's

Center consolidation continues with USDL deal to buy American SharedConsolidation of the imaging center business took on new dimensionsthis month with the signing of two major acquisition agreements.Both combinations signal a broadening of how

Questar buys 10 Siemens Magnetom Open scannersAs the imaging services industry consolidates, smaller centercompanies are beginning to look like little fish swimming in anocean of imaging center mega-chains. The conventional wisdom dictatesthat

InSight Health Services of Newport Beach, CA, has completed itsacquisition of Open MRI of Hayward, CA. The deal gives InSightrights to the imaging center's trademark for the term "openMRI," and InSight intends to form a new imaging

Are long FDA review times making products too expensive?The nuclear medicine community appears cautious in its attitudeabout the new radiopharmaceuticals just entering or about to enterthe U.S. market: Verluma, Myoscint, CEA-Scan, and

InSight to form separate open MRI subsidiaryWhat's in a name? Ask that question of InSight Health Services.The Newport Beach, CA, imaging services provider believes it'sgetting more than just an imaging center with its proposed acquisitionof

Company retools business plan after healthcare reformLinear accelerator developer PracSys is planning to develop anetwork of PET imaging centers using linear accelerators ratherthan cyclotrons to produce fluorodeoxyglucose. The company hasalso

Medical Resources announced last week that it has completed itsacquisition of NMR of America (SCAN 5/22/96). NMR of America,of Murray Hill, NJ, will become a subsidiary of Hackensack, NJ-basedMedical Resources, which as a result of the deal now

Positive industry factors may help open financing tapBuddy, can you spare $118 million? Any imaging center chain lookingto expand two or three years ago wouldn't have gotten far withthat line on Wall Street. But it might be time to try again.

Deal would make USDL largest imaging center chainU.S. Diagnostic Labs this month displayed again why it has developeda reputation as the most aggressive consolidator in the imagingservices industry. Just as it was completing its acquisition

GE MedicalSystems will enter the market for positron emission tomographyscanners on Jan. 1 with the acquisition of Scanditronix's PETcamera business. This endorsement of PET by the world's largestmedical imaging vendor should boost clinical acceptance of