From the December 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Modular Devices has seen continuing growth in the popularity of mobile CT labs and cardiac cath/vascular labs. “Our mobile 16-slice CT systems have been going out as fast as they come in throughout the whole year,” says Koers, “and it looks to stay that way into next year.”

“We’ve been adding more mobile combo cath /vascular and mobile vascular-only systems to our fleet to meet the increased demand for these systems,” says Koers, whose company has been in the mobile catheter lab business since 1987.


In distinguishing a mobile coach from a modular lab, Koers says, “Our labs are mobile in that they’re an interim lab that is relocated easily, but our modular labs are up to 50 percent larger than a typical mobile trailer and they reside at ground level for easy access.” Being at ground level means a patient-lift is never required to wheel a patient into the room, frequently a patient will not even be aware that they’ve left the main facility.

Gallagher also sees benefits in choosing a modular building over the more transient aesthetic of a trailer. “It’s the mental attitude of the patient,” says Gallagher. “Are they going into a trailer? There’s always a negative association with that to some extent.”

On the other hand, Smith at Medical Coaches cites building codes and regulations as issues that make modular alternatives less desirable than trailers. He says that although modular labs are not something they are currently interested in emphasizing, they have built them for customers who requested them.

The ACA and renewed demand for high end equipment
A common opinion among mobile professionals is that the enactment of the ACA left the business stunned in many ways. “Until about a year and a half ago, people weren’t doing anything,” says Gallagher. “That’s when the EMR requirements were going in so they had to spend money on that.”

Koers says the ACA led many hospitals to feel uncertain about their purchasing plans, and they had been waiting to see what would happen. “This has been one of our busiest years,” he says, “but it’s hard to say whether it is a direct result of the ACA or if it’s because things are becoming clearer and hospitals are getting around to the equipment projects they’d been putting off.”

For MonDak Imaging, the ACA has affected them through the effect it has had on the hospitals they work with. Bastian says those hospitals felt a financial impact and in turn, expect their imaging partners to share in that impact.

Getting ACR or Joint Commission accredited can be expensive yet necessary. “If we don’t do the Joint Commission or ACR then the facilities we go to can’t bill Medicare,” says Bastian. “There are billing restrictions for them so to stay in business we have to be certified by one of those bodies.” If the mobile modality isn’t certified, neither are the hospitals paying to use it.

December 2014 Magazine

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