Insight Imaging provides mobile PET/CT services to Holy Spirit Hospital.

Holy Spirit Hospital, located in Pennsylvania, recently signed a multiyear agreement with Insight Imaging to provide mobile PET/CT services. This relationship is already proving to be a positive one, helping Holy Spirit Hospital to seamlessly transition to a brand-new PET/CT vendor while meeting its community’s growing imaging demands.

With numerous facilities within the Holy Spirit Hospital system equipped and staffed to provide a full range of imaging services, PET/CT services had always been left to an outside vendor to manage and provide for patients and referring physicians in the community. Prior to the agreement with Insight Imaging, a group of radiologists along with another mobile PET/CT vendor would park their truck on the campus of Holy Spirit Hospital and pay rent to use the hospital waiting room and holding area for the patients. However, it was not affiliated with the hospital in any way, shape, or form, said David Gatesman, administrative director, Imaging and Physician Liaison Services at Holy Spirit.

In December 2010, the hospital was notified that this service would cease in March of this year. Along with weighing the option of continuing with a direct relationship with the previous vendor, Holy Spirit Hospital sought out Insight Imaging as an alternative. Insight Imaging, headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif, is a provider of fixed site and mobile diagnostic imaging services. “We talked to each of them [the vendors] about their support services, about their marketing, scheduling, and resources. And throughout that process, Insight to us was the clear winner,” said Gatesman.

It was very important that there was no break in service for the patients, the physicians, and the community. “We turned this around in 45 days. And for anyone in the business, to go from having no PET/CT to having a fully functional PET/CT in 45 days, it takes a lot of work,” said Gatesman. “I have been in imaging management for 14 years and involved in a lot of projects. ? I can say without question this is the smoothest transition I have ever been involved in using an outside vendor, with anything I have ever had to do with purchasing equipment, starting a new service. Insight made it that easy. “

Included in the services provided by Insight is a centralized scheduling system. “They also do all of the work behind the scenes; they contact physicians, they get prior results. If they have a patient that they think we won’t get payment on, they will not schedule the patient. They will turn it over to us to decide how we want to handle the case,” said Gatesman. “Because of the complexity of scheduling, and doing it right, we opted to use them to schedule our PET/CT.” Additionally, they were instrumental in guiding the hospital through the National Oncology PET Register (NOPR) process, taking extra steps to make sure that NOPR paperwork is completed so that the hospital gets paid.

Gatesman noted the importance of strong teamwork between Insight Imaging and his hospital staff. “They have been wonderful. And anything we have asked them to do, they have done it with a smile on their face. Anything that they have needed from us, our team has responded equally as well to provide them with what they need ? It’s almost like they are another department of our hospital ? I think that they care about our patients as much as we do.”

Ultimately, the proof is in the numbers, which seem to be equally impressive. The typical expectation of 24 scans performed per month has already been exceeded. In April, in the first month of their relationship with Insight Imaging, Holy Spirit performed 51 scans.

Insight Imaging parks the mobile PET/CT unit at Holy Spirit Hospital’s Camp Hill location for two consecutive days a week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They hope to expand the number of days that they offer PET/CT, and in a few years, they would like to be able to have fixed site PET/CT services. The multiyear agreement is set for 4 years with the option to end at 3 years if the hospital has a fixed site. In the meantime, Insight Imaging is positioned to help every step of the way.