Facility Management

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

Medicare reimbursement for rubidium is on the horizonProponents of clinical PET suffered a serious blow late last monthafter the Food and Drug Administration announced that it wouldrequire PET facilities to submit new drug applications for

Technology to make PACS work efficiently has finally arrivedIt has been more than a decade since medical imaging vendors beganpromoting the concept of picture archiving and communicationssystems (PACS). The initial promise of PACS was so great

Consolidated Technology Group (COTG) reported last week that it has completed its acquisitionof the Magnetic Resonance Institute in Arlington, VA. COTG, ofNew York City, bought the center for $950,000 in cash. The purchasecompletes the company's goal of

Company to pursue center management contractsMedical Imaging Centers of America made considerable progressin stanching its red ink in 1994. The company last month posteda net loss for 1994 of $494,000, down sharply from the $29.6 millionnet loss

BTI secures new financing as backlog risesManufacturers of magnetic source imaging (MSI) devices are strugglingto find a niche for their technology in a health-care environmentincreasingly hostile to expensive medical equipment. One

In a case considered a harbinger of things to come for the imaging center industry, Thomas E. Haire,founder of Radiation Care, an Atlanta-based radiation therapyprovider, agreed in December to a fine of $2 million, ending atwo-year federal investigation

Products target expanding market for bone examsTwo leading vendors of bone densitometry equipment, Lunar andHologic, are in the peak financial condition following recordsales in 1994. Both companies expect their fortunes to improveeven further

IDSI's ULIT system to make debut at RSNA meeting Raymond leaves MR CooperativeMR Cooperative director Scott Raymondhas left the imaging center association for a position at Azron,a San Diego-based developer of electronic medical record

Industry limps through second year of recession The steep declinein diagnostic imaging equipment sales is a wake-up call for anyonewho has yet to accept that the industry is undergoing a sweepingtransformation that affects every aspect of

Freestanding imaging centers may escape rate scheduleThe freewheeling outpatient health-care segment is set to receivea healthy dose of economic discipline courtesy of Uncle Sam, whois threatening to rein in outpatient costs with a system

Physician owners seem to be awaiting better offersThere hasn'tbeen much fury in the storm of imaging center acquisitions forecastfor this year. Although referring-physician owners face federaland state deadlines to divest their ownership

Drug firm sees potential in Johnson & Johnson allianceMRI is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of medical imaging. Manyfirms are scrambling to scale back investment in the technologyor are leaving the business altogether. The latest company