X-ray vision spurs business for Colorado provider

DENVER - Premier Medical has seen inside a lot more nursing homes since partnering with a mobile x-ray company last fall. “It amazed me that the state of Colorado had one provider that did that service,” said Kip DelaVega, vp of sales and marketing for Premier. “Now that there is a choice, we have a waiting list. It worked out exactly the way we planned.” By offering mobile x-rays with its HME services, Premier can now compete as a one-stop-shop to nursing homes. As a result, the company has gained entry into nursing homes where it previously had no business, and added the x-ray service to existing nursing home clients, DelaVega said. It's easy to see why nursing homes might covet mobile x-rays. By contracting with mobile x-ray services, they can detect whether a resident who has fallen has broke or fractured a bone. The more expensive alternative is to transport the resident to a local hospital, which, if possible, nursing homes prefer to avoid, since the x-rays often reveal nothing wrong. A doctor evaluates the x-rays for Premier. “It was tough for us to compete when all we could offer was DME, but we were able to because of our service,” said DelaVega, who joined Premier about 18 months ago. “But now that people have a choice, the lid has blown off.” The x-ray company, Pacific Mobile, entered the Colorado market at Premier's urging, and began immediately servicing Premier's existing accounts. Because of that existing business, Pacific “didn't have to sweet bullets” and start from scratch, DelaVega said. Pacific recently hired two new employees and have sent a truck and equipment to Colorado Springs, where Premier is opening another branch. HME