· Medium Use Tier: 30 to 100% of scans seconds/amp seconds of the tube's warranty used within one year.
· High Use Tier: Usage exceeds 100% of the tube's warranty usage level within one year. High volume applications typically include emergency rooms.

For example, if the CT scanner's tube warranty provides for 100,000 scans seconds in one year and that scanner was using only 25,000 scans seconds each year, it would be in the low-use pricing level. If the scanner was being used for 130,000 scans seconds per year, then it would be put at the high-use pricing level.


"For as many sites as we can, we try to get the past usage history on the scanners; the scanners contain that information," Spees explained. "This allows us to get a pretty good idea of where to slot each scanner....We fit the customer into the right usage level to guarantee they will save on their tube costs."

Dunlee Glassware Solutions was launched in 2004 and currently has about 15-20 customers with nearly 300 scanners under contract. Some ISOs that use the program have more than 50 scanners on a contract.

GE Healthcare has two major plans

GE Healthcare also offers Full Service and shared risk glassware service coverage. GlassPro is their shared risk option, available for customers with a GE service agreement. The program is for GE equipment only, and is available not only for CT, but other GE X-ray modalities.

"With Full Service, the customer has the peace of mind of being able to spread out payments evenly and plan monthly payments over more than a year and know that all their equipment in service is covered," says Kristin St. Martin, Diagnostic Imaging Services Marketing Manager, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI. "In this economy with reimbursement where it is, shared risk is a flexible option that allows [customers] to take on some risk and be rewarded with savings in service dollars."

With GE's GlassPro shared risk program you pay a monthly subscription fee and that entitles purchase of replacement tubes at a discounted price. Installation by GE engineers is included.

"With Full Service, you pay one annual fee over the life of your contract every year and the tube is included so you don't have that additional outlay of cash. When the tube blows, you can spread that out over the life of the contract," she says.

In either approach, the cost is tied to usage and the type of application. "Usage can vary dramatically. So to say you will replace a tube per year, you can't make that generalization. It has to be tailored to the needs of the customer."

St. Martin noted a trend toward Full Service contracts for glassware. "As equipment gets more complex and the interaction between the equipment and the imaging subsystem becomes even more tightly woven, that desire for Full Service coverage certainly is increasing."

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