PET/CT looks like a wise investment for several reasons. "PET can be used to check up on expensive medicines and radiotherapy, gathering clinical evidence about them," Dr. Divgi said of the research application. "The initial investment will be costly because we will need to carry out expensive studies to determine what the cheapest way will be. I have no doubt that intelligent application of imaging, particularly PET, will lead to cost savings in the long run," he said.
"On the clinical level, the procedure volume, innovation and clinical proof are very strong in PET/CT and SPECT/CT. The clinical drivers are still there," Smith said. "In Q1, what we saw was the effect of the credit crisis. People made a decision not to make a [purchase] decision. If they can't operate with liquidity it's difficult to raise money for capital. What the industry is looking for is that institutions have the ability to fulfill their normal financial plans. We are all waiting for the natural market forces to come back into effect."
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Some Business Opportunities in the Aftermarket
Investment in radiopharmaceutical laboratories is not going great guns either according to Gary Reich, President, Reich Consulting Services, Inc., a builder and equipper of hot labs that make the tracers for this field.
"It has to do with fear of cash flow and being able to finance receivables among hospitals. Many of the not-for-profit hospitals are on a capital freeze for labs, renovations, expansions, and replacement of equipment. There is some activity but it has significantly slowed," Reich said. "The opportunities right now with some signs of improvement are in radiation oncology, children's hospitals and the veterans hospitals. Those are areas that are at least evaluating purchases compared to a traditional community, not-for-profit hospital." He also noted that many hospitals begin their fiscal year in July and if they have leftover funds or put off investment till next year, things might improve over the summer.
A refurbished GE Discovery LSM
PET/CT being checked at
C&G Technologies
Meanwhile the independent service organizations continue to sell and support the aftermarket in PET/CT and SPECT/CT as well as stand-alone PET and SPECT.
