While new equipment sales are focused on the hybrid PET/CT technology, the installed base of stand-alone PET systems are often serviced by independent service providers.

"We are trying to offer a cost-effective alternative to Siemens PET and PET/CT parts, service and pre-owned equipment," says Joseph Sciarra, Vice President, Marquis Medical, Howell, NJ. "Even though all new sales are PET/CT, there are still a lot of customers nationwide that have the old stand-alone PET technology and that is where we excel with our parts inventory for Siemens. We have a number of systems and parts and we are still able to support a lot of the machines that Siemens doesn't. So even as PET goes away, you are still going to have people that keep PET for research and clinical [work]."


The industry is keen to understand when markets might recover. "The DRA has had a two-fold effect: One, it decreased the amount of money that freestanding imaging centers are spending on new equipment because the reimbursements aren't there to recoup their investments in the time frame they are used to," Lindsey says. "And two, as a consequence, because they are not purchasing new equipment, its appears that many groups are trying to extend the life of the current equipment that they have - trying to 'milk it' as much as they can before they are forced to upgrade or replace their existing equipment."

William Biddle, COO of BC Technical adds, "It used to be that facilities [had] the latest and greatest systems, but with DRA, not a lot of facilities do, so they market the capabilities they do have and meet with physicians' offices and outlying facilities to bring in business. The obvious priority is taking care of the patient, and uptime with the camera is paramount."

Mobile PET/CT is a popular configuration

Another way that healthcare providers are watching the bottom line is by using mobile units, often sharing this resource among multiple locations to bring PET/CT technology to patients.

"If you look at our Discovery platform, it is fully mobile compliant...so whether it's a fixed unit or goes into a mobile [trailer], it's the same system," says Patrick O'Day, GE Healthcare's Global Product Manager for PET/CT.
"We've designed the system to be robust to handle that type of environment. The
advantages for our mobile providers is that it gives the ability to provide service to places that may not have the procedure volume to justify a full purchase, but those patients have access to the care that they need."

The clincial angle and future prospects

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