by
Joanna Padovano, Reporter | December 19, 2011
From the December 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Depending on the company and the customers’ needs, some mobile service providers offer trained technologists as a package deal with equipment rentals.
Business is good for some, challenging for others
Speaking with more than a half dozen mobile service providers, DOTmed News received mixed responses regarding how business has been for the sector.
Smith reports that the domestic business of Medical Coaches—a manufacturer of numerous mobile services, including MRI, PET/CT and mammography, among others—has been on the decline. On the other hand, their international sales, which comprise 35 to 40 percent of their business, have been increasing.
Photo courtesy of Medical Imaging Resources
For Assured Imaging Women’s Wellness, a provider of mobile mammography, ultrasound and bone density scanning, business has been good, according to Joseph Shafe, the company’s vice president of sales. Shafe mentions that his company recently expanded into Washington, Oregon and California. “Our goal in the next five years is to be in 15 states, all on the West Coast,” he says.
Meanwhile, business for Shared Imaging has been an ongoing challenge, according to Stachowiak, who blames the uncertainty surrounding the economy and health care system in the United States. Shared Imaging provides mobile services in CT, MRI and PET/CT.
“Our mobile services business has done extremely well,” says Steve Richter, executive vice president of sales for DMS Health Technologies, which offers mobile services for PET/CT, MR, CT, digital mammography and nuclear medicine. “Our utilization rates are very high in both our mobile imaging fleet as well as in our interim rental business. The economy I think has actually helped our business quite a bit.”
Similarly, Dishman reports that his company’s sales have been trending upward over the past year. He suspects the reason is due to the fact that hospitals waiting on equipment upgrades after the recession began are now able to purchase new systems and are therefore requiring the use of mobile services. “Our business is linked to the volume of new equipment sales that are going on in the general marketplace . . . so there’s this natural niche to be filled for temporary coverage,” he says.
