U.S. reimbursement prospects for bone densitometry are improving,with a growing list of state Medicare and Medicaid payors supportingthe procedure, according to David Ellenbogen, president of densitometervendor Hologic of Waltham MA. But the worldwide
U.S. reimbursement prospects for bone densitometry are improving,with a growing list of state Medicare and Medicaid payors supportingthe procedure, according to David Ellenbogen, president of densitometervendor Hologic of Waltham MA. But the worldwide bone densitometrymarket will remain sluggish until several osteoporosis therapiesunder development reach market.
While Hologic breaks even on its densitometry business, thefirm is searching for alliances or acquisitions to expand in relatedtechnological areas until its core market hits its stride. Thevendor hopes to build on its imaging expertise and distributionpresence, particularly in areas related to women's health, Ellenbogentold SCAN.
Medical investment broker WDI Capital Markets of Hilton Head,SC, has been engaged by Hologic to search for diversificationprospects, he said.
Hologic is interested in company acquisitions, product acquisitionsor strategic alliances, he said. The publicly held company hasabout $10 million in cash and the prospect of further stock offeringsto fund acquisitions.
"Preventive medicine--and women's health as a subset ofthat--is receiving more attention these days. We think there areopportunities in this area for products that are cost-effective,"Ellenbogen said.
Hologic attempted to develop an equalization radiography productin cooperation with Konica, but the two firms dropped the ideaafter Kodak introduced its Insight film line. The differentialscreen-film process accomplishes much of what equalization radiographydoes without requiring an additional capital expenditure, he said.
Hologic successfully spun off a private company, Vivid Technologies,to apply densitometry technology to airport baggage scanning.Vivid, which is backed by Hologic's original venture capital supporters,provides royalties to the firm for licensed technology, he said.
BRIEFLY NOTED:
The Quest is unique among PET scanners in its use of sodiumiodide as a scintillation material. Other systems require costlierbismuth germanate elements. Consequently, the $1.7 million Questfits a low-cost price niche for GE, which introduced the $2.5million Advance in 1992.
A Victory for Radiology: New CMS Proposal Would Provide Coverage of CT Colonography in 2025
July 12th 2024In newly issued proposals addressing changes to coverage for Medicare services in 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its intent to provide coverage of computed tomography colonography (CTC) for Medicare beneficiaries in 2025.
The Reading Room: Artificial Intelligence: What RSNA 2020 Offered, and What 2021 Could Bring
December 5th 2020Nina Kottler, M.D., chief medical officer of AI at Radiology Partners, discusses, during RSNA 2020, what new developments the annual meeting provided about these technologies, sessions to access, and what to expect in the coming year.
ACR Collaborative Model Leads to 35 Percent Improvement with Mammography Positioning Criteria
July 1st 2024Noting significant variation with facilities for achieving passing criteria for mammography positioning, researchers found that structured interventions, ranging from weekly auditing of images taken by technologists to mechanisms for feedback from radiologists to technologists, led to significant improvements in a multicenter study.
New Study Shows Non-Radiologists Interpreting 28 Percent of Imaging for Medicare Patients
June 28th 2024While radiologists interpreted approximately 99 percent of all non-cardiac CT, MRI and nuclear medicine studies in hospital and emergency department settings for Medicare beneficiaries, new research shows significantly less radiologist review of cardiac imaging and office-based imaging.