New Partnership Aims to Improve Access to Cardiac PET

Bracco Diagnostics Inc. and CardioNavix, LLC have formed a new partnership to improve patient access to cardiac PET imaging, an important diagnostic test for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD). The new program, the Bracco Mobile Isotope Service, will enable more patient care sites, such as community hospitals, physician practices and outpatient imaging centers, to provide cardiac PET imaging.

Bracco has traditionally offered CardioGen-82® (Rubidium Rb 82 Generator) and its accompanying infusion system to its more than 270 customer sites at a per-generator fixed cost, with several options for delivery schedules. The Bracco Mobile Isotope Service with CardioNavix provides a solution with on-demand generator delivery service, expanding access to patient care sites with low volume. The generator and all necessary equipment are delivered as needed, so the site pays only for the days they wish to image patients. It can be ideal for healthcare providers imaging on a part-time schedule, or those located in less populous areas. It also allows sites to ramp up and grow into a full-time traditional generator delivery schedule as their number of procedures increases.

Kim McDaniel, Sr. Director, Nuclear Medicine Sales and Market Support at Bracco Diagnostics, says, "Establishing a cardiac PET imaging program requires significant upfront and ongoing costs that a provider must be able to recover. This can make the modality challenging to implement for institutions with lower patient volumes due to location or the need to share equipment with oncology studies. This new program will help lower the upfront cost and business risk, to allow more healthcare providers to offer this important diagnostic test. Our Bracco Mobile Isotope Service and partnership with CardioNavix is another example of our commitment to increase patient access to cardiac PET imaging."

Lon Wilson, President and Radiation Safety Officer of CardioNavix, explains, "Cardiac PET imaging is recognized as the test of choice for non-invasive cardiac perfusion imaging. It meets important goals for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) including supporting positive patient outcomes with lower cost and high patient satisfaction. We are thrilled to partner with Bracco Diagnostics to deliver cardiac PET to imaging labs nationwide. Expanding access to cardiac PET imaging by lowering the financial barriers to entry is a win-win for healthcare providers and their patients. We anticipate significant interest in the program and believe that our agreement with Bracco Diagnostics will help more providers offer cardiac PET imaging to their patients."