Alliance Healthcare Services acquiring four PET/CT centers from Molecular Imaging Technologies

With the backdrop of a possible sale of the firm, Alliance Healthcare Services announced this week that it is acquiring four PET/CET imaging centers in several states.

The Irving, California-based healthcare giant’s radiology division recently reached an agreement on the purchase with Molecular Imaging Technologies, the two partners said Wednesday. Centers included in the deal operate in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Alabama and Louisiana.

“We feel fortunate to add four well-known and well-regarded PET/CT diagnostic imaging locations to the Alliance Radiology family,” President Rich Jones said in a statement. “Each site has an established reputation within its local community for providing patients with high-quality and high-value medical imaging, and each is located near where Alliance Radiology offers other imaging services.”

Corporate owners—Chinese financial firm Tahoe Investment Group—have reportedly considered selling Alliance, Bloomberg reported last month. A sale could fetch upward of $400 million, but THI may still opt to keep the business, according to the report.

AHS provides a range of services that include imaging joint ventures, help with center acquisitions, and outsourced radiology care. The company at one point was traded on the Nasdaq and also operates in oncology and pain management. Molecular Imaging Technologies, meanwhile, was founded in 1997 and typically partners with providers to create PET/CT programs, according to the announcement.

Company officials labeled Alliance as a “leading” provider of this imaging service in the U.S., claiming they employ the most technologists and PET/CT systems in the country. All told, the firm operates more than 600 diagnostic radiology, radiation therapy and interventional systems across 70 fixed-cite imaging locations and 40 cancer centers.

Marty Stempniak

Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic. 

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The all-in-one Omni Legend PET/CT scanner is now being manufactured in a new production facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin.