by
Joanna Padovano, Reporter | September 23, 2011
From the September 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Inland Imaging is a private radiology practice based in Spokane, Wash. CEO Steve Duvoisin estimates the company uses approximately 10 MRIs, most of which are manufactured by GE, and all of which have been purchased outright. The majority of the units are 1.5T except for one, which is an open-bore Hitachi MRI. In March 2011, the company bought its latest MRI, a GE 1.5T unit. Duvoisin says Inland Imaging is much more likely to purchase a refurbished machine before buying a brand new system. “It has to be pretty compelling technology to get us to buy a new scanner anymore,” he explains. When asked how his practice has been doing in terms of patient volume, he says, “It has come back from last year, last year was down . . . it hasn’t come roaring back, but it’s come back a bit.”
Randal Walker is the vice president of sales for the mobile operations department of Genesis Medical Imaging, an Illinois-based company that services and sells refurbished MRIs. Out of the two dozen countries it operates in, Walker estimates Genesis conducts 70 percent of its business in the U.S. and 30 percent internationally. He tells DOTmed News that the company—whose primary customers are hospitals—mainly performs service on MRIs manufactured by GE, Siemens and Philips.
The effects of health care reform
As is the case with many aspects of the medical industry, the MR sector has been and will continue to be affected by the ongoing health care reform. In the years to come, more and more Americans will begin to acquire health insurance, which means there will be an increase in the amount of patients who need MRIs. As a result, says MRG’s Silva, “facilities might start purchasing used systems in preparation for that increase in procedure volume, and I think that will kind of offset any kind of potential decline that we might see caused by reimbursement cuts.”
Regarding health care reform, Mass. General’s Thrall tells DOTmed News that non-hospital facilities billing Medicare through the Part B have really felt the pain when it comes to MR procedures. “I think it’s made it more challenging, particularly for non-hospital outpatient facilities. The non-hospital outpatient facilities have really been hit the hardest because they were hit with the DRA [the Deficit Reduction Act], and then they were hit again with the PPACA [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] . . . then CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] has implemented what they call the multiple procedure rate reduction rule, where if you image contiguous body parts the reimbursement is decreased.”
