ADM forms partnership with ADAC to launch nuclear services venture

FirstNuclear includes both equipment and service

Imaging services provider American Diagnostic Medicine (ADM) launched a joint venture with ADAC Laboratories this month designed to make it easier for hospitals to begin offering nuclear medicine services, including PET. The program, called FirstNuclear, will provide hospitals, clinics, and medical practices across the U.S. with the equipment, staff, and supplies needed to start or upgrade a PET or SPECT program.

Over the past few years, the two companies have been working together on a trial basis, establishing more than 20 nuclear medicine programs throughout the Midwest. The June 10 deal launches the partnership nationally and formally names ADAC as ADM’s sole-source U.S. supplier for nuclear medicine and field-support services.

FirstNuclear will incorporate ADAC’s nuclear medicine imaging systems with ADM’s technical staff, operations support, pharmaceuticals and supplies, and licensing, marketing, and administrative assistance. In their marketing efforts, the two firms plan to target smaller hospitals, clinics without nuclear medicine departments, and hospitals that are struggling to upgrade their existing nuclear medicine capabilities, according to Chris Richard, ADM’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“We work with hospitals or clinics that haven’t had nuclear medicine departments before,” Richard said. “We come in and operate a nuclear medicine department within a hospital, providing the staff, the equipment, the equipment service, the bookkeeping, licensing, and marketing. FirstNuclear takes a lot of work and risk off of hospital staff, and with all the resources we have, gets them into nuclear medicine fairly quickly.”

Elmhurst, IL-based ADM specializes in medical diagnostic technologies, including nuclear medicine, CT, MRI, ultrasound, bone densitometry, and vascular x-ray. The company was established in 1984 as an R&D company for developing microcomputer chips and other upgrade devices for CT scanners. The company expanded its operations over the years to provide a full range of diagnostic services including equipment refurbishment and installation, applications training, CPT coding and billing consultation, marketing programs, and staffing. ADM offers dedicated fixed-site or mobile service, turnkey operations, shared ownership, and other partnership arrangements.

FirstNuclear customers don’t have to pay anything to get involved in the program, according to Richard. Clients sign a contract and ADM does the work of obtaining a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, determining the layout of the rooms, and providing staff to run the department. ADM charges its clients on a fee-per-patient basis, and clients bill their insurance providers.

“Really, the only investment from the customer’s point of view is space and electricity,” Richard said.

In other ADM news, the company also announced that it plans to build a network of freestanding PET oncology imaging centers across the U.S., which it will own and operate, according to Richard. ADM expects to open its first center by the end of the year, and will install ADAC’s C-PET system at the center. The company may include other modalities in the centers, depending on the area and customer base.

“There are some strategic (geographical) areas where we feel PET is a much-needed service,” Richard said. “(PET) is a hot market right now. We’re just at the bottom floor, so if we position ourselves well, we should be a key player in the market in the next several years.”

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