From the May 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


“I think you’re going to see growth in the use of DXA for other applications,” says Hologic’s Clarke. He’s talking about considering a whole new patient base for DXA screening, away from post-menopausal women. For instance, younger patients and men who have been prescribed certain drugs and therapies directly linked to decreased bone density. The company has also been assessing aortic calcification on DXA scans.

Although no scoring system has been established for this yet, doctors can refer patients to a cardiologist after seeing indications of calcification on the DXA scan. But the biggest opportunity for DXA outside of skeletal health, according to OEMs, lies in total body composition studies.


Hologic’s whole body DXA systems incorporate the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey’s whole body composition reference data, and most recently, the company has received FDA clearance for additional body composition evaluations of visceral tissue, which measures inner body fat.

“It can give you an idea about how fat can affect your body, especially with obesity, diabetes and heart disease on the rise,” says Clarke.

Similarly, GE offers software called CoreScan, which can quantify visceral fat on its Lunar iDXA machine.

As OEMs fight for market share by adding new features and capabilities, one big question remains: how much will they be reimbursed for these new applications, if at all?

As for the latest round of Medicare reimbursement cuts for DXA screening, there will be another opportunity to address bone density after elections this fall, when Congress takes up the next Medicare physician payment cut, which is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2013.

DOTmed Registered Bone Densitometer - May 2012 Companies

Names in boldface are Premium Listings.
Domestic
Rick Ebling, Ebling Imaging LLC, FL
Tim Zoellner, Health Tech Solutions, FL
Moshe Alkalay, Hi Tech Int'l Group, FL
DOTmed Certified
Ed Ruth, Managed Medical Imaging, FL
DOTmed Certified
Jailyn Primus, Primus Xray, FL
Mark Forcier, JD Honigberg International, IL
John Gladstein, Medical Device Depot, MD
DOTmed Certified
Leon Gugel, Metropolis International, NY
DOTmed Certified
DOTmed 100
John Pereira, United Medical Technologies, FL
David Denholtz, Integrity Medical Systems, FL
DOTmed Certified
DOTmed 100
Olga Karagiannis, MHologic, MA
DOTmed Certified
DOTmed 100
Mark Piening, MEC Inct, OH
DOTmed Certified
Desmond Johnson, DEXAScanners, Inc., TN
Ben Williams, DEXA Solutions, LLC, WI
Don Settergren, IO Sales, WI

International
Haitham Khoury, MEDMACK, United Arab Emirates
Ricardo Tejada, RT Medical System Support, Dominican Republic
Kaushik Shah, K S BIOMED SERVICES, India
Gautam Sehgal, Ads diagnostic limited, India

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