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Weekly UpdatesFor many years, Alaskans who needed medical imaging services have had to travel to the state's urban centers, or even out of state, to have these diagnostic procedures performed. Services such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, nuclear medicine and bone-density scanning were only offered at the state's largest hospitals, and cutting-edge technology, such as PET (positron emission tomography) scanning were not even available on the Last Frontier.
Alaska Open Imaging Center LLC (AOIC), which was first established as the Wasilla Bone Density Clinic in 1999, gave residents another option when it came to imaging services. Now-with four locations in Wasilla, Anchorage, Soldotna and Fairbanks--AOIC's full-service imaging centers provide residents with access to the latest state-of-the art technology in comfortable, patient-friendly settings.
"Probably the biggest benefit that AOIC provides is that it gives patients an option of where to go for imaging services--they no longer have to go to the only place in town," explained Chief Executive Officer Jeff Kinion. "We came into the market and brought services that no one else provided-technology that should have been offered in Alaska but wasn't.
"We believe in making patients feel good about their visits, and we pride ourselves on providing really good service," he added. "As hospitals get bigger and bigger, they lose that personal touch. But we believe that there's more to medicine than just healing-it's about taking care of people."
Believing that the public was underserved in certain areas of Alaska, AOIC founders opened the Wasilla Bone Density Clinic in the late 1990s. Renamed and reopened in 2000 as Alaska Open Imaging Center, the facility quickly grew to become a full imaging center, offering ultrasound, nuclear medicine, X-ray, CT scan and open MRI services.
"At the time we began offering open MRI, no one else had this technology in the state," said Marketing Director Kim Black, of what has become the company's core business. Designed to provide large or claustrophobic patients with a more comfortable scan, the open MRI is also used for very young patients, who need the reassurance of seeing their parents during the procedure, which is not possible in a closed-bore system.
"Though we started offering open MRI services in the Valley because we felt it was underserved, we quickly discovered that patients were traveling from other areas, including Fairbanks and Anchorage, to have their MRIs done with us," said Medical Director Dr. Robert Bridges. "It was a paradoxical situation--we weren't expecting patients to come to us from all over the state."
AOIC is also credited with bringing the first PET scanner to Alaska, which is used for the detection of brain disorders, cardiac disease and cancer. Though PET scanners normally require a cyclotron to produce the isotope used in the process, AOIC found a way to transport the short lived isotope to Alaska in order to provide this service to patients who used to have to fly to Seattle for treatment.
In addition to open MRI and PET scanning, patients also can go to AOIC's office in Anchorage for CT scans and ultrasounds, and to Soldotna for open MRI, bone density testing and X-rays. The Fairbanks office houses an ultra short-bore open-design, high-field MRI, a high-end machine designed to reduce acoustic noise by as much as 90 percent over closed-bore scanners. AOIC also offers patients access to three screening studies, which include a cardiac score study to determine calcification levels and risk of coronary artery disease; virtual colonoscopy, a noninvasive procedure performed with a CT scanner; and lung cancer screening.
"Insurance covers approximately 99 percent of the procedures we perform, except for the screening studies, which we offer at a discounted rate," said Black.
Patients scheduling appointments at AOIC are often seen on the same day or the next day, and receive the results of their reports within 48 hours. "Because our company is based on a service environment, we cater to our customers," said Black.
In addition to making patients happy by providing these services in their communities, AOIC also believes that physicians are pleased to have these alternative facilities available. "What we offer is choice-we empower physicians by providing multiple opportunities to improve patient care," said Dr. Bridges. Currently, AOIC works with more than 500 referring physicians in fields including orthopedics, oncology, neurology, chiropractic and internal medicine. In 2006, AOIC had grown to include 50 employees, with annual gross billings of $16 million.
Increased competition also has made more services available at a lower cost. "When we move into a market, hospitals begin investing in newer equipment and technology in response," said Black. "With increased competition comes decreased rates for patients, and increased services and technology."
"In any industry, competition improves services," added Kinion. "We raised the bar on imaging technology in Alaska."
Though patients and referring physicians seem satisfied with their services, as Alaska Opening Imaging has continued to expand, it has found that some hospitals, now having to compete, have not been as welcoming. AOIC is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Fairbanks Memorial Hospital's owner Banner Health, which is trying to prevent AOIC from operating its Fairbanks facility. The lawsuit claims that AOIC needed to participate in the certificate-of-need process before opening its doors as required by independent diagnostic facilities, though AOIC has been classified by the state as a non-covered physicians' group. At the time of this article, the suit was ongoing.
"It's hard to believe this monopolistic attitude of hospitals in Alaska," said Kinion. "Imaging centers have co-existed with hospitals down south for more than 20 years. Last month, Fairbanks Memorial had a record month, and we had a record month. So where's the problem?"
As far as its customers are concerned, there isn't one. "As communities grow, they want to see diversification in health care--they want to have more than one place to go," said Dr. Bridges. "Before, patients voted with their feet by going to Seattle, or somewhere else on the West Coast, or the Mayo Clinic. Now patients no longer have to go Outside to get good care-it's available right here."
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