Shared Medical Equipment Group LLC has recently moved to a new headquarters to accommodate its growth, which, according Paul Zahn, director of sales and marketing, reflects the increasing technology upgrades taking place in the Midwest and across the nation. For starters, many rural hospitals are improving their medical imaging offerings in part because of the availability of equipment leasing options.

Shared Medical Equipment Group provides MRI, PET/CT and CT solutions including mobile and in-house, interim or short-term rentals, leasing, fee-per-scan; sales, remarketing, and reconditioning of pre-owned equipment; transportation, installation and deinstallation, technical support, service and parts.
In short, whatever sales, service, or leasing arrangement is needed to support providers' imaging and business models, it's available through the company.

"A lot of it is interim equipment is for rural facilities or facilities that might have a back log and can't keep up, or facilities that are doing upgrades and need scanners in the short term," said Zahn. "[By leasing equipment] they don't lose the revenue stream. So it continues to allow them to keep patient flow and provide patient care.""

Zahn has observed an uptick in PET/CT lately and an overall greater demand for equipment on the part of customers including hospitals and imaging centers.

"Our company is building more routes as some of the rural facilities are looking to add more services... PET/CT is becoming more widely used in the marketplace so we're able to provide mobile services to facilities as they start up those services," he said. "Some the facilities are getting more funding to be able to provide [more advanced] patient care."

As customers expand, so has Shared Medical Equipment Group, which has moved to a new building for its larger staff and for needed trailer space. The company's locations are Cottage Grove, Wis. and in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

"What sets us apart is customer service and follow-up. We have a huge network of employees and are at each facility we service," Zahn said. "We have a strong foothold in the Midwest but we do have scanners throughout the United States, several on the West Coast and East Coast."

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