Manufacturers and users of low-field MRI scanners are breathinga little easier in California. Members of a physicians councilcharged with reforming the state's workers' compensation insurancesystem have moved a step closer to shelving a controversial
Combine the world's largest fleet of mobile MRI vans with a growingfixed-site imaging center business, stir in more than a pinchof U.S. health-care restructuring and leaven with cheap debt.Could this be a blue-ribbon recipe for approaching
Manufacturers and users of low-field MRI scanners will probablydodge a bullet this month that could have been fatal for low-fieldreimbursement in California's workers' compensation system. Membersof a medical council participating in reform of the system
Proponents of health-care reform wasted little time resurrectingfederal legislation that would grant antitrust waivers to hospitalsplanning medical equipment-sharing arrangements. Similar legislationintroduced in the last session of Congress expired when
Sterling Winthrop made it three this month, as its Omniscan agent became the third MRI contrast product to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing approval. The nonionic gadolinium agent will be sold in this market by Sanofi Winthrop, a joint
Imaging center firm Medical Resources (MRI) has paid down itsdebt from a leveraged buyout two years ago, raised $6 millionin new capital through an initial public stock offering and isready to start buying centers, according to chairman Ernest J.DeSalvo.
ATL found itself swimming strongly against an ebbing tide in theultrasound market this quarter. The Bothell, WA-based dedicatedultrasound vendor reported third-quarter increases in revenueand income while the financial results of competitors
Clinical development of positron emission tomography could behampered by an ongoing shortage of oxygen-18, the raw materialfor a widely used PET tracer. The shortage is forcing PET researchersto ration isotope supplies and cut back on studies just as
Shifting alliances in intravascular ultrasound compose a dancechoreographed by companies with an eye on a market that just mightbe something--someday. Catheter firm Boston Scientific partedwith ultrasound vendor Diasonics in July to jump on the back
Aetna Health Plans has joined the growing list of private insurancecompanies that have authorized reimbursement of positron emissiontomography scans. Aetna began covering PET scans early this year after the company'stechnology review board last winter
An engine is driving the U.S. imaging center industry slowly butsurely toward consolidation of independents into regional andnationwide chains. While the octane in the fuel that feeds thisengine is regulatory restriction of referring physician
California's state legislature resolved its budget stalemate lastmonth, but not before cutting 9.5% in Medi-Cal payments to radiologists,anesthesiologists and surgeons. The last-minute addition to thestate's budget bill is expected to save about $7
Niche MR may be an emerging market, but it is not a totally newfocus of corporate attention. Metriflow Medical Systems of Milwaukeeobtained Food and Drug Administration approval of its AFM-100blood flow scanner five years ago. The firm is just now
Rx Medical Services will leverage its experience in clinical laboratoriesinto a position in medical imaging. The company, based in NewportBeach, CA, last month made the first of what it hopes will bemany imaging center acquisitions with the purchase of
Seven years of turmoil in the picture archiving and communicationsystems market has led to greater emphasis on productivity andcost-effective equipment. But radiology departments often assumethat adding new technology in PACS will automatically
Cytocare squelched a class action suit in May that had been promptedby the firm's declining fortunes in the lithotripsy market anda corresponding drop in stock price. A Santa Ana, CA, federaldistrict judge granted the firm's summary motion to dismiss
Venture capital firms provide essential funds to keep start-upcompanies afloat before they are ready to tap more advanced formsof financing. But the price for venture support is diminishedmanagerial autonomy. When entrepreneurs and investors don't seeeye
New imaging center acquisitions are running at a subdued pace,according to Terrance Gill, president of Medical Ventures in SolanaBeach, CA. Parent company of the nonprofit Cooperative MRI organization,Medical Ventures lined up private capital to back a
Independent MRI vendor Resonex will use its 50% position in anAtlanta imaging center company as a vehicle to build sales inthe growing orthopedic imaging niche, according to Gerald D. Knudson,president and CEO. Resonex of Sunnyvale, CA, helped form
The nation's largest private insurer has endorsed reimbursementof positron emission tomography (PET) scans in brain tumors andepilepsy, and PET proponents believe federal payments are notfar behind. The recommendation to pay for PET comes from the Blue
A downturn in new freestanding imaging center growth, coupledwith buyer anxiety in other health-care sectors, has made 1992a disappointing year for new MRI system placements in the U.S. Manufacturers will sell about 500 new systems in the U.S.
Medical imaging investors are closely following efforts by federaland state lawmakers to reform financial rollups. While rollupabuses have largely occurred outside the imaging center industry,legal reform efforts could limit a promising channel for
A federal proposal to cut medical costs and boost health insuranceavailability has passed a critical Congressional juncture. Thebill would regulate national health-care spending through costcaps to doctors, hospitals and medical equipment manufacturers.
John P. Heinrich is back in the MRI business, although indirectly.The former vice president of MRI at Johnson & Johnson's defunctTechnicare subsidiary was appointed president and COO of SummitWorld Trade in December. Summit, based in Hudson, OH, is a
This issue of DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SCAN is number 120, marking fivefull years of publication. It has been a wild and fun five yearsfor us. Few industries other than medical imaging could offerso much corporate drama and technological razzmatazz.SCAN's
