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PET/CT Services

No clinical application makes better use of the shared imaging concept than PET/CT. Although applications are growing for PET, the number of patients eligible for third party reimbursement is limited for any hospital. The clinical potential for PET when directly married with high speed CT is enormous, but substantially higher in cost than traditional PET. Meanwhile, Medicare reimbursement for hospitals to provide PET has recently gone down. The solution - Shared PET/CT.

Shared PET/CT occurs when BP Consulting (Perspectives) brings together multiple hospitals and/or clinics through the shared utilization of a PET/CT mounted in a mobile coach. Each party pays by the day for the availability of the equipment and by the procedure for operating costs. Governance of the network is often by a board of the participants. Operations are by Perspectives.

Advantages of Shared PET/CT:

  1. Lower Cost - Shared equipment utilization greatly reduces the capital cost experienced by each hospital. The unique system utilized by Perspectives to obtain equipment passes on only the direct financed costs to each participant. NO MARK-UP! Further cost reduction is experienced by sharing personnel and management expenses.
    Impact on a hospital otherwise planning to purchase equipment: Up to $500,000 per year
  2. Expanded Clinical Opportunities - The equipment utilized in the shared service can have all of the clinical applications currently available built in. By paring an ultra speed CT with the PET scanner, even the most unique PET applications will be possible. Further, the CT can be utilized independently to perform virtual angiography and arteriography procedures in settings where these are not otherwise available.
    Impact of a Cardiac CT service (10 procedures per week): $250,000 of revenue per year
  3. Better Utilization - Shared PET/CT allows availability of both the PET and the ultra speed CT in multiple settings each day. This addresses many of the problems hospitals experience with fixed based equipment. For example, Cardiac PET/CT will be far better utilized if accessible directly by the Cardiology department than when located in radiology. Perspectives can move the equipment to a more proximate location, or simply establish a reading station convenient to the attending physician.

The Shared PET/CT system is complex to set up, but well worth the effort. Once a network of providers has been identified, Perspectives offers a "turn-key" service, expediting the availability of the service and performing all management and operational activities.