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Author Topic: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs  (Read 14771 times)

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Offline bimazek

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$3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« on: May 02, 2007, 07:15:32 pm »
$3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs

here is great example of how broken our health care system is... to buy a PET scanner (we all should be getting pet scans in a sane med system once every 3 years at least to catch cancer but like so much with usa its all about money or profits for a few

friend of mine works for PET scan company, Dr.  refer patients to get scan, max insurance pays is $3,900.  But the costs for everything, the building the loan on the PET scan machine, all the employees, the accounting, the taxes, the electricity EVERYTHING costs the company $320 in costs per scan....

THAT IS $3,580 PROFIT FOR EVERY SCAN

if this was inside a universal health care system

then we would not have thieves robbing us

the Dr.s own the PET scan company that they refer patients too... that alone that you have to go waste one day of life to see dr. to get refered to another dr. owned pet scan to spend another 4 hours is an abuse of power

if we are getting all these cancers then we should all be gettting PET scans

for dang $320 we could afford to do it out of pocket almost

this is example of the evil in the health care system

and the dr. group that owns it owns dozens of PET scaners all over state



Offline ndrew

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2007, 07:22:38 pm »
Someone explain to me how this does not violate antitrust laws?

Drew

Offline bocker3

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2007, 08:02:40 pm »
While I could not agree more that the US Health Care System could use some revamping, I have to disagree with the position that everyone should have a PET scan every 3 years.  There is a distinct danger in overusing medical technology.  False positive test results would result in untold anguish and unnecessary additional cost in follow ups.  One always has to look at the costs and benefits (I'm not really referring to money here) in using technology widely as a screening device. 
There could be so many other unintended consequences -- people sue over false test results, it happens all the time.  Lawsuits are one factor in the high costs of US health care (left out of the costs listed in the per scan cost).  That cost actually seems very low to me and I have a hard time believing that insurance companies would allow that large a discrepancy to exist, but I can't refute it with facts -- just my sense of it.

So, yes things need to change, but things are as simple as this thread implies.

Mike

Offline BT65

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2007, 08:38:43 pm »
great example of how broken our health care system is.
if this was inside a universal health care system

then we would not have thieves robbing us

the Dr.s own the PET scan company that they refer patients too... that alone that you have to go waste one day of life to see dr. to get refered to another dr. owned pet scan to spend another 4 hours is an abuse of power

if we are getting all these cancers then we should all be gettting PET scans

this is example of the evil in the health care system

and the dr. group that owns it owns dozens of PET scaners all over state




OH, I get is now, you are a conspiracy theorist.
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Offline Grinch

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2007, 08:45:34 pm »
These numbers and the entire premise have a few flaws.
The tags (Radiopharmaceuticals) injected are harmful.  PET for routine screening is not a good idea.

The numbers you quote leave out so many things I can't even begin to get them all.  Here are a few.
A maintainace contract on the machine is about $200,000 a year.
You've left out all the ancillary equipment needed to use the machine. A short list includes PACS, HIS/RIS, the highspeed network needed to support these devices and the hot lab.  Next lets add in the cost of maintaining that equipment and the cost of storing all the hard copy films produced by the PET, and the soft copy archives.  There's also the cost of film and the laser printer.  Even small hospitals spend as much as 1,000,000 per year in film and associated costs.

  Next we need to add in costs like malpractice, the 250,000 in student loans the doc has, and referral fees etc.  There are also cost of doing business items like registration of radiopharmaceuticals and radiation producing equipment and the administrative costs for these things. The medical physicist that certifies your machine and all the "optional" certifications like ACR and JCHO.

  You've also left out the CON (Certificate of Need) that most states require.  This wonderful bit of legislation restricts one from purchasing certain equipment with out this certificate.  There are significant costs associated with this to include a feasibility study.

  You also quote maximum reimbursement not average reimbursement.

Regarding self referral, I am not aware of a single state that allows this, and if you think competing doc's wouldn't turn them in you've lost your mind.  The doc's are in competition and usually do not play well together.

Offline RapidRod

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2007, 08:50:59 pm »
Let me see, a PET scanner takes two years to set up at 4.2 million, 1 million just for the upkeep on the scanner per year. Then you have to have the radioactive tracers at what price?? Then you have hazardous material waste to dispose of at what cost? So if you really look at the price it isn't that much. That is with out the techs and the Drs. I don't think they they are making the profit you think they are making.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2007, 08:55:05 pm by RapidRod »

Offline Grinch

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2007, 08:56:49 pm »
You're a little over priced Rod.  I can install a PET in about a week assuming the facility is completely ready.  Maintainance is right at 200,000 for just the PET.  Figure double for the newer PET/CT's that do both PET and CT with one device and merge the images.

The CON on the other hand can take a couple years and cost another million.

Offline puertorico2006

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #7 on: May 02, 2007, 08:58:06 pm »
I love you betty hehe :-*
Infected Probably: may 2005
Diagnosed: 11/2006

11/28/2006 CD4:309 / VL: 1907 No meds yet
12/27/2006 CD4:339/  VL:1649 No meds yet
  4/28/2007 CD4:550/  VL:1800 No meds :-)

Offline milker

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2007, 09:00:57 pm »
I don't have a dog, so I can't give my advice on PET scans.

Milker.
mid-dec: stupid ass
mid-jan: seroconversion
mid-feb: poz
mar 07: cd4 432 (35%) vl 54000
may 07: cd4 399 (28%) vl 27760
jul 07: cd4 403 (26%) vl 99241
oct 07: cd4 353 (24%) vl 29993
jan 08: cd4 332 (26%) vl 33308
mar 08: cd4 392 (23%) vl 75548
jun 08: cd4 325 (27%) vl 45880
oct 08: cd4 197 (20%) vl 154000 <== aids diagnosis
nov 2 08 start Atripla
nov 30 08: cd4 478 (23%) vl 1880 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
feb 19 09: cd4 398 (24%) vl 430 getting there!
apr 23 09: cd4 604 (29%) vl 50 woohoo :D :D
jul 30 09: cd4 512 (29%) vl undetectable :D :D
may 27 10: cd4 655 (32%) vl undetectable :D :D

Now accepting applications from blowjob ninjas™

Offline whizzer

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2007, 09:14:01 pm »

But the costs for everything, the building the loan on the PET scan machine, all the employees, the accounting, the taxes, the electricity EVERYTHING costs the company $320 in costs per scan


HORSESHIT

-Whizzer
(who has held his tongue through these outlandish posts for too long)

Offline milker

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2007, 09:15:31 pm »
HORSESHIT

-Whizzer
(who has held his tongue through these outlandish posts for too long)

I don't have a horse either, but I'm a certified horse instructor.

Milker.
mid-dec: stupid ass
mid-jan: seroconversion
mid-feb: poz
mar 07: cd4 432 (35%) vl 54000
may 07: cd4 399 (28%) vl 27760
jul 07: cd4 403 (26%) vl 99241
oct 07: cd4 353 (24%) vl 29993
jan 08: cd4 332 (26%) vl 33308
mar 08: cd4 392 (23%) vl 75548
jun 08: cd4 325 (27%) vl 45880
oct 08: cd4 197 (20%) vl 154000 <== aids diagnosis
nov 2 08 start Atripla
nov 30 08: cd4 478 (23%) vl 1880 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
feb 19 09: cd4 398 (24%) vl 430 getting there!
apr 23 09: cd4 604 (29%) vl 50 woohoo :D :D
jul 30 09: cd4 512 (29%) vl undetectable :D :D
may 27 10: cd4 655 (32%) vl undetectable :D :D

Now accepting applications from blowjob ninjas™

Offline Life

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  • Posts: 2,389
  • Member 2005
Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2007, 09:19:49 pm »
Can I have a PET CAT scanned?  This is all so interestingly dull...

Offline RapidRod

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2007, 09:52:41 pm »
Grinch
http://www.ecri.org.uk/ct_pet_tech.htm Here is one for 3 million not counting all the lights and whistles. The specs of the room for the machine. I was stunned to see that in the US there are only 3.5 scanners per 1 million people. Still they are not making a huge profit off of it. I don't think to many small hospitals around could even afford those. Sure we can go to our county hospital and get a CT or an MRI scan done. But usually when they want better scans they send us to one of the University Hospitals.

Offline bimazek

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2007, 12:26:22 am »
I stand by the numbers.  This is truth including all costs mentioned above.

As a stand alone biz that just does PET scans in volume I stand by my numbers.  All those costs you mentioned above were included in the costs that I was reporting.  The reason the insurance companies go along is because the original price was for a PET scanner when they cost who know $10 million so now they are way down in price.

The cost of a million dollar PET scanner is paid for by a bank and the Business only pays a monthly mortgage to the bank of say $5,000 a month for the scanner.  Then they get a bunch of dr.s to refer biz there and in many cases the Drs are all owners of the the pet scan company.  A PET SCANNER IS ONLY A $5,000 a month COST FOR for the BUSINESS.

Regarding harmful effects, ok perhaps every 3 years is too often but i think every 5 or 7 years

Many wealthy people are flying to Thailand to get these for $1200 so there is a fairer price for you.

The numbers were accurate provided by a sharp businessman who works with all the profits from the business.

I didnt create the rip -off which is American health care,

perhaps i am a communist or something but the Drs  in cuba work entirely well for $50 per month and that includes surgeons.  They do get a nicer house though.

i guess i am sick of the money greed

This is  completely unrelated but i was in a Dr.s house in the South, he was a health south radiologist

he had a 40,000 sq ft house

things are completely ridiculous
can no one see this but me

there are 4 hiv aids people who died in S. Carolina while the republicans in that state got richer and richer

there are 15 to 25 aids/hiv people dying per day in USA today now

the disease would have been solved by now if the money wasted in Iraq would have been spent on research




Offline milker

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #14 on: May 03, 2007, 12:53:05 am »
Ok Bimazek i'm losing it with you.

You always know a doctor that is the best in the area of whatever we're talking about. It's either a best friend or you know the best doctor that has worked on whatever topic we're talking about, he happens to either be your best friend or you had a conversation with him on the phone last week. You seem to have phone conversations with the highest doctors in the country, and you always have a friend that know this and that whatever the subject can be.

I'm tired of it, really.

Milker.
mid-dec: stupid ass
mid-jan: seroconversion
mid-feb: poz
mar 07: cd4 432 (35%) vl 54000
may 07: cd4 399 (28%) vl 27760
jul 07: cd4 403 (26%) vl 99241
oct 07: cd4 353 (24%) vl 29993
jan 08: cd4 332 (26%) vl 33308
mar 08: cd4 392 (23%) vl 75548
jun 08: cd4 325 (27%) vl 45880
oct 08: cd4 197 (20%) vl 154000 <== aids diagnosis
nov 2 08 start Atripla
nov 30 08: cd4 478 (23%) vl 1880 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
feb 19 09: cd4 398 (24%) vl 430 getting there!
apr 23 09: cd4 604 (29%) vl 50 woohoo :D :D
jul 30 09: cd4 512 (29%) vl undetectable :D :D
may 27 10: cd4 655 (32%) vl undetectable :D :D

Now accepting applications from blowjob ninjas™

Offline RapidRod

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2007, 06:38:38 am »
bimazek, I don't have any idea or does anyone else when you start posting, where you are getting your information. It's fine if you want to say, "That is your opinion." But don't say it's fact when it's not. Our hospital has a new GE scanner and it is owned and operated by the hospital which is a county hospital. No private business owns that equipment. So wherever you are getting your data it's flawed. 

Offline bimazek

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #16 on: May 03, 2007, 05:08:21 pm »

One business with one PET scanner.  Does 20 PET scans a day 7 days a week, I think that is low.  Billing insurance $3,900 per scan.  That is $28,470,000 revenue per year from one PET scanner.  Yes seventeen years ago when the pet scanner first hit the market and the cost was tens of millions perhaps then the $3,900 per scan price was justified.  COSTS  If the cost for all services is $2,500,000.  This includes all the employees, the accounting, the taxes, the electricity EVERYTHING costs the company $320 in costs per scan!  This includes the  maintainace contract on the machine about $200,000 a year.  this includes all ancillary equipment PACS, HIS/RIS, the highspeed network hot lab. cost of storing all the hard copy films produced by the PET, and the soft copy archives.  There's also the cost of film and the laser printer say 1,000,000 per year in film and associated costs, certifications like ACR and JCHO.  I think that all these costs could easily fit below the $2,500,000   and maximum $3,500,000. 

Which still leaves a $3,500 profit on every scan.

 $28,470,000 revenue p
    3,500,000 costs

 $25,000,000 profit per year

I am sure the first five years after the pet scanner came out the profit margin was much much less, say 25%

Regarding my personally talking to many researchers.  I just pick up the phone and call Harvard and Univ or Montreal and the top virologist in the Pacific northwest.    In researching articles that I write or other research.

I stand by what is written.  There is no way to deny the fact that insurance execs are getting rich, some types of Dr.s are getting rich and HMO execs are getting rich and republicans are getting super rich

and 15 to 25 HIV people are dying a day in usa

and 100 are being newly infected per day in usa

and Dr.s are billing way to much for 5 min. consults so that Kaiser execs or HMO exec can make $5,000,000 per year in bonuses and stock options and salary on top of all the travel.

The exact same pet scan is $1200 all over the world no matter what the currency and those clinics are still making a profit too.

The point is the relentless greed and gouging of prices by med system.

I agree the lawsuits should be shut down to a great degree.

It is never popular to speak the truth.

dont complain to me call some investigative reporter and get them to investigate


Offline puertorico2006

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #17 on: May 03, 2007, 05:29:01 pm »
Once again I must reiterate that you need to quote "sources" not because a "friend" told you....

Im not a big believer in statistics anyways because they are easilly skewed to meet particular results...
Infected Probably: may 2005
Diagnosed: 11/2006

11/28/2006 CD4:309 / VL: 1907 No meds yet
12/27/2006 CD4:339/  VL:1649 No meds yet
  4/28/2007 CD4:550/  VL:1800 No meds :-)

Offline puertorico2006

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2007, 05:31:11 pm »
what exactly is it you "do?" that you know people in harvard and pacific, and you know them so personally that you can pick up the phone and call them????

and if your going to state something said by them you should cite a name and their credentials...
Infected Probably: may 2005
Diagnosed: 11/2006

11/28/2006 CD4:309 / VL: 1907 No meds yet
12/27/2006 CD4:339/  VL:1649 No meds yet
  4/28/2007 CD4:550/  VL:1800 No meds :-)

Offline bimazek

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Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2007, 06:00:37 pm »

i have been friends with

cleve jones that started the quilt when he worked in maui hotel where the hawaiian woman made quilts to sell, before he even started the quilt

randy shiltz the band plays on... last saw him at the party in pac heights

that bad guy who was in angels in america, i met him once, the lawyer, who fried ethal rosenberg

hundreds of friends lovers boyfriends, x-s who have died or killed themselves

i almost met rock hudson at a pool party once, someone said, that in this very jacuzzi last year rock sucked a dozen guys

i guess i was a year late




Offline Grinch

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  • Posts: 325
Re: $3,900 PET scan costs the company $320 in costs
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2007, 06:56:13 pm »
Grinch
http://www.ecri.org.uk/ct_pet_tech.htm Here is one for 3 million not counting all the lights and whistles. The specs of the room for the machine. I was stunned to see that in the US there are only 3.5 scanners per 1 million people. Still they are not making a huge profit off of it. I don't think to many small hospitals around could even afford those. Sure we can go to our county hospital and get a CT or an MRI scan done. But usually when they want better scans they send us to one of the University Hospitals.

3 million is for a PET/CT the ECRI article shows a stand alone for about a million.  Pretty close to what I quoted.  Don't forget there are usually a few "extras" built into the budget.  The budget is what gets reported to organizations like ECRI.  I'll check the FDA registration site tomorrow for Scanners per capita  3.5 sounds low.  Before I changed jobs in 2005 I personally installed 3 between Jan -Aug. in Northern New England.  Off the top of my head I can think of 4 in New Hampshire alone.

Bimazek,

Would you please provide me the name of the site that can do 20 patients in a 24 hour period and do so for under $400 per?  I will make enough to retire in two years by simply consulting with facilities like Dana Farber and Dartmouth Hitchcock.  I'd also be willing to find investors to open my own facility and charge only $2900 per patient.  Any one would be willing to split the difference and make 9 M a year while I pocket the other half or what ever the math equates to using your logic.

 


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