Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

From where to have lunch to when to retire, life is filled with decisions that require careful consideration. Not the least of these is how to protect your CT, MRI, X-ray, or other medical imaging equipment with service and maintenance coverage.

No two imaging facilities are exactly alike, and that's why there is some flexibility among the plans you'll find on the service market. To help reduce your legwork as you enter the service market, we'll cover here three common imaging equipment service plans offered by service providers.

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.

As with all modalities of imaging equipment, PET scanning is gradually moving in the direction of greater and greater diagnostic accuracy. For PET in particular, the biggest step in that direction of the last decade has been the development and proliferation of time of flight technology.

For those who may be using PET systems older than ten years, or newer systems without the time of flight option enabled, there are benefits to time of flight you'll want to explore as the time to upgrade your equipment draws nearer. For those who may be only just entering the PET arena, there are a number of reasons why a time of flight-equipped system should be at the top of your list of considerations. Wherever you may fall on the PET user spectrum, we'll share below more details about what time of flight features actually do and what they mean for PET users and patients alike.

Like any other piece of medical imaging equipment in your facility, you rely on your PET/CT scanner to serve the diagnostic needs of your patients. And just like any other piece of medical imaging equipment, your PET/CT is going to need periodic maintenance and repair to make sure it stays in service as much as possible. We'll be frank: quality service coverage isn't cheap, but there are ways to save on your service purchase- namely, working with an independent service organization (ISO).

Being an imaging equipment ISO ourselves, we've compiled below current average price ranges for one year of full PET/CT service coverage. Individual pricing will vary based on the make, model, and age of your system as well as the service options you choose, but these figures will give you a place to start planning. See more about the types of coverage we offer here.