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Reich Consulting Services (RCS), Plantation, FL, builds and installs nuclear medicine and PET/CT hot labs across the country. The firm recently finished their 50th nuclear medicine laboratory for customers including hospitals, imaging centers and large radiology groups.

Current trends all contribute to a positive outlook for the company including the life cycle of laboratories, ever-changing imaging technologies, federal regulation and the history of the physical plant of hospitals.

"What's happening is that most hospitals were built either after World War II or in the late 1960s and 1970s, so they are old and concentrated in urban areas," said RCS President Gary Reich (pronounced "Rich"). "Trends today demand more private rooms for infection control and HIPPA privacy issues so hospitals are adding new patient towers while expanding their emergency rooms...There is a ripple effect throughout institutions that are spending millions to renovate support departments like radiology units and laboratories."

Reich also noted that federal regulations governing nuclear medicine have resulted in tighter controls on nuclear pharmacies and labs in terms of dose preparation and handling. "Because of construction, consolidation, and regulation there is a greater need for design construction services like ours," he said.

RCS integrates off-the-shelf items including dose calibrators, shielding, and waste disposal with customized stainless steel and metal cabinetry, and conveyor tables. Labs are designed to support the weight of the shielding as well as meeting technologists' work needs from dose intake into the lab to storage and removal from the canister. RCS designs work stations where technologists measure and view the dose through the lead glass shield before the patient receives it. Using stainless steel makes it easier for the technicians to clean the lab and make sure there are no traces of radioactivity.

Reich observed that, due in part to government reimbursement changes, PET/CT labs are waning somewhat. "While the construction of PET/CT labs has stabilized, the new impetus for hospital construction is driving more renovation and changes to general nuclear medicine labs instead."

Reich had advice for those looking to build labs: "The earlier you start planning for what your needs are, the better. If you plan early enough, everyone wins -- the buyer and the seller, because there's enough time to understand exactly what site construction, equipment accommodation, and work flow are needed."