Specialty units might be physically located not within the main radiology department, but
in other areas of the hospital. Mammography and bone-density services are often located
in the women’s health clinics or in outpatient clinic areas. Tomography units could be
located in the orthopedics clinics, while the interventional radiology areas could be close
to the operating rooms. The remote locations of these services can strain one’s servicing
capability. For example, when devices to be serviced are not in the main radiographic
area, there are no convenient alternate methods of conducting the specialized examinations.
These examinations are generally expensive procedures, and the hospital does not
want to forgo reimbursement for them. Rescheduling patients can be a problem, so good
PM programs are needed, to keep the “up time” high on these devices and systems and to
prevent negative affects on the hospital’s financial picture.