Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

While the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues, we at Block Imaging would like to share with our valued partners what we're doing as a company to keep you, your teams, and your patients safe during this pandemic.

As a global provider of medical equipment and parts and a service and mobile rental provider across the United States, we understand that we have a role to play in keeping hospitals and clinics serving patients. At the same time, we also understand that the movement of our personnel and goods through our own facilities and into yours needs to be handled with extra care. The following are the measures we're taking to provide that care:

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is now affecting 77 countries and territories around the world. With ongoing experience detecting and treating the outbreak, medical professionals have realized the critical role of diagnostic imaging in containing the spread of the virus.

In the cardiovascular imaging community, there has been much anticipation over the last few months regarding the proposed addition of some codes to the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) payable list. Well, the day has come and it is good news!

It’s been several years since Philips declared their Forte nuclear camera end of life (EOL). Still, through the service and spare parts support of third party providers, many users have continued scanning patients with them. Now, however, this years-long arrangement may no longer be a viable one.

On September 19, Philips Sr. Manager of Post Market Surveillance issued an urgent field safety notice to all users of the Forte family to discontinue use until further notice. This applies to all Fortes, including the Powerpack, the Jetstream, or systems refurbished by Philips.

In the notice, Philips said “There is a possibility that a detector may fall unimpeded vertically to the end stops of its travel limit, due to mechanical failure, possibly making contact with a patient that could result in entrapment, serious injury, or death.” Essentially, anyone who keeps using the Forte runs the risk of hurting a patient, or worse, with a falling detector.

This news raises serious questions for facilities that have relied on the Philips Forte for their nuclear medicine studies. What's being done? How long will it take? What are our alternatives? Below, we'll address those questions with the information that's available now. Check back periodically to to see updates as they become available from Philips and the FDA.

Recently, a proposal through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommended a change to the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) that would reduce reimbursement for cardiac PET scan procedures by 80%. While the proposed change doesn't prevent anyone from continuing to offer cardiac PET services, it does drop reimbursement to a level well below what's needed to maintain a viable cardiac imaging service, a move that will force many providers out of the market and eliminate access to service for the majority of patients.

This news raises several questions. What is CMS thinking with this proposal? What will patients do if the proposal is accepted? And what can be done about it? We'll answer these questions below to shed more light on the situation and what's to be done as CMS administrators make their deliberations.