Candidates might be facilities that want to determine how many patients they will have in a typical week for the particular imaging modality they are introducing.
Varcarolis says mobile imaging can help customers build their business because it helps create a referral base until it makes sense for a facility to spend the money to add a first or second permanent unit.
Most mobile providers will also help customers transition from mobile into fixed. Gilk says the tipping point for facilities to consider this usually happens around two full days of imaging a week.
“If you’re providing two calendar days of imaging onsite every week you’re probably at the tipping point at which it becomes less expensive over say a five year period to go ahead and buy your own MRI [for example] and do the construction, and the build-out for the suite to have it installed,” he says.
Rural demands Rural hospitals have traditionally sent patients to outside facilities for imaging procedures. But that is changing.
Mobile imaging is important in rural areas according to Brock Slaback, senior vice president for member services at the National Rural Health Association, based in Kansas City, Mo. He says doctors will prescribe an imaging scan at an outside location but many patients in rural communities don’t have the transportation means or the money to get to the central hospital for the scan.
“Anytime you can short-circuit that need to go the distance, it really improves the ability to do complete health care that’s responsive to the patient’s needs. That’s why many facilities look at these mobile options,” says Slaback.
Although many small rural critical access hospitals — typically less than 30 beds — probably don’t have the volume of patients to financially support a scanner, what they can do is pair up with other clinics in the area to bring a mobile trailer to a site, or they can even pay to have it parked at their facility a few times a month to provide the imaging service on a reoccurring basis for patients.
“To invest in a 2 million dollar piece of equipment is not possible for some of these rural hospitals, so if they can partner up with other hospitals in the area and share in the costs of that particular piece of equipment, it makes sense,” says Smith of Medical Coaches.
Slaback says it’s important for rural hospitals considering this option to make sure they have the patient volume to sustain the cost of the trailer. In fact, some mobile providers will not provide the service if there is no guarantee of the service being financial sustainable. At the same time, mobile providers are good at providing a break-even analysis and a payback breakdown. “They are really good about setting that up to give management a nice proforma to let them know what they need to prepare for as far as volume,” says Slaback.
