(Courtesy University of Pennsylvania's
School of Veterinary Medicine)
School of Veterinary Medicine)
Pet owners spend big on imaging services
August 22, 2013
by Loren Bonner, DOTmed News Online Editor
Most Americans are guilty of treating their pets like humans. One telling example might be the recent switch in terminology from "pet owners" now calling themselves "pet parents."
But there's another telling example that highlights our desire to treat our furry friends like family members: It's the human-quality health care that's now available for pets.
Not only are more dedicated veterinary imaging centers popping in the U.S., but as a field, veterinary medicine is spreading into new terrain with more advanced procedures, like interventional radiology, becoming the norm.
"Starting off, we'd do an X-ray and hope we saw what was going on. Now we can actually have a better plan before we go into surgery," Dr. Kim Agnello, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, told DOTmed News.
Across the country, interventional radiology procedures are being performed on animals. Beyond treating congenital vascular diseases, interventional radiology procedures are used to take out tumors in animals. Using advanced imaging, like CT angiography, veterinary radiologists guide a probe to the tumor area where they inject glue-like material to clog the vessels that are feeding the tumor. This prevents the tumor from growing.
"We can now make smaller incisions and get animals back to their normal activity time sooner. Recovery is better too," said Agnello.
As the technology has evolved, so has veterinary radiology. Beyond radiography, UPenn's veterinary radiology program incorporates CT, MR, radiation therapy and of course ultrasound (a popular imaging modality in veterinary practices due to the low cost of the device). Currently, UPenn is training five residents, a relatively large number considering that only about 400 veterinary radiologists exist in the United States. Besides the veterinary school, UPenn is also an integrated veterinary hospital. In 2007, it built the Rosenthal Imaging and Treatment Center, which serves animal patients from the veterinary hospital as well as providing animal imaging services for the greater Philadelphia area.
"The center initially had MRI and radiation therapy. Then a few years ago we added a new CT machine. We also have staffing and rooms to provide our own anesthesiology," Dr. Wilfried Mai, chief of the section of radiology at the Rosenthal Imaging and Treatment Center, told DOTmed News.
Depending on the market for a particular area, integrated veterinary imaging centers are easy to find. Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists, a $7 million, 33,000-square-foot facility constructed in 2011, is one of many in Florida alone offering all diagnostic specialties, even PET/CT.
Others, like the non-profit Animal Medical Center in New York City, have been around for over 100 years, and have recently incorporated diagnostic imaging specialties like CT, MR and interventional radiology/interventional endoscopy.
Where these centers are located usually depends on how financially stable a community is, because most pet owners pay out of pocket for imaging services. A typical scan — say, an MRI for your dog — can range anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000. If an owner has pet insurance, it typically covers imaging.
According to Jim Stuppino, president of AnimalScan, reimbursement for animal imaging is actually better than it is for human.
In 2009, Stuppino acquired a couple of animal MRI facilities. He said that within 18 months he was able to make a profit. He recently opened three more centers and has nine others in the works. All of the centers exclusively offer animal MRI imaging.
"It's been a tremendous growth for us over a short period of time," Stuppino told DOTmed News. "The volumes can range from 20-25 MRI scans a month and some of our centers do over a 100 scans a month based on the market and area."
The majority of Stuppino's business is mobile MRI. He buys refurbished mobile MRI units and parks them permanently at his practices.
In fact, all veterinary imaging centers use human MRI and CT scanners because OEMs, like Siemens, GE and Philips, do not manufacture dedicated ones. But specially made ultrasound and X-ray units do exist for pets.
According to Mai, UPenn's Rosenthal Imaging and Treatment Center uses a secondhand 1.5 tesla MRI scanner and a brand new 16-slice CT scanner.
While veterinary medicine may not be at the level of human medicine yet, Mai said there is a lot of collaboration going on in trying to bring knowledge from the human side to the animal side.
"It's a continuously evolving field," said Mai.
In addition to setting up MRI imaging centers, Stuppino said they are getting ready to install a million dollar MRI scanner at North Carolina State University's veterinary school of medicine.
"There's been more specialists coming out into the field and it's a scenario where they are demanding better health care for their facilities and animals," said Stuppino.
But there's another telling example that highlights our desire to treat our furry friends like family members: It's the human-quality health care that's now available for pets.
Not only are more dedicated veterinary imaging centers popping in the U.S., but as a field, veterinary medicine is spreading into new terrain with more advanced procedures, like interventional radiology, becoming the norm.
"Starting off, we'd do an X-ray and hope we saw what was going on. Now we can actually have a better plan before we go into surgery," Dr. Kim Agnello, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, told DOTmed News.
Across the country, interventional radiology procedures are being performed on animals. Beyond treating congenital vascular diseases, interventional radiology procedures are used to take out tumors in animals. Using advanced imaging, like CT angiography, veterinary radiologists guide a probe to the tumor area where they inject glue-like material to clog the vessels that are feeding the tumor. This prevents the tumor from growing.
"We can now make smaller incisions and get animals back to their normal activity time sooner. Recovery is better too," said Agnello.
As the technology has evolved, so has veterinary radiology. Beyond radiography, UPenn's veterinary radiology program incorporates CT, MR, radiation therapy and of course ultrasound (a popular imaging modality in veterinary practices due to the low cost of the device). Currently, UPenn is training five residents, a relatively large number considering that only about 400 veterinary radiologists exist in the United States. Besides the veterinary school, UPenn is also an integrated veterinary hospital. In 2007, it built the Rosenthal Imaging and Treatment Center, which serves animal patients from the veterinary hospital as well as providing animal imaging services for the greater Philadelphia area.
"The center initially had MRI and radiation therapy. Then a few years ago we added a new CT machine. We also have staffing and rooms to provide our own anesthesiology," Dr. Wilfried Mai, chief of the section of radiology at the Rosenthal Imaging and Treatment Center, told DOTmed News.
Depending on the market for a particular area, integrated veterinary imaging centers are easy to find. Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists, a $7 million, 33,000-square-foot facility constructed in 2011, is one of many in Florida alone offering all diagnostic specialties, even PET/CT.
Others, like the non-profit Animal Medical Center in New York City, have been around for over 100 years, and have recently incorporated diagnostic imaging specialties like CT, MR and interventional radiology/interventional endoscopy.
Where these centers are located usually depends on how financially stable a community is, because most pet owners pay out of pocket for imaging services. A typical scan — say, an MRI for your dog — can range anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000. If an owner has pet insurance, it typically covers imaging.
According to Jim Stuppino, president of AnimalScan, reimbursement for animal imaging is actually better than it is for human.
In 2009, Stuppino acquired a couple of animal MRI facilities. He said that within 18 months he was able to make a profit. He recently opened three more centers and has nine others in the works. All of the centers exclusively offer animal MRI imaging.
"It's been a tremendous growth for us over a short period of time," Stuppino told DOTmed News. "The volumes can range from 20-25 MRI scans a month and some of our centers do over a 100 scans a month based on the market and area."
The majority of Stuppino's business is mobile MRI. He buys refurbished mobile MRI units and parks them permanently at his practices.
In fact, all veterinary imaging centers use human MRI and CT scanners because OEMs, like Siemens, GE and Philips, do not manufacture dedicated ones. But specially made ultrasound and X-ray units do exist for pets.
According to Mai, UPenn's Rosenthal Imaging and Treatment Center uses a secondhand 1.5 tesla MRI scanner and a brand new 16-slice CT scanner.
While veterinary medicine may not be at the level of human medicine yet, Mai said there is a lot of collaboration going on in trying to bring knowledge from the human side to the animal side.
"It's a continuously evolving field," said Mai.
In addition to setting up MRI imaging centers, Stuppino said they are getting ready to install a million dollar MRI scanner at North Carolina State University's veterinary school of medicine.
"There's been more specialists coming out into the field and it's a scenario where they are demanding better health care for their facilities and animals," said Stuppino.