Finance solutions for life-changing healthcare technology

When you live in a major city or near a prestigious medical center, you often have access to cutting-edge medical technology. But what happens when you reside in a rural community, thousands of miles from the nearest specialized care provider?

Treating cancer patients in rural Alaska
This was a problem facing Richard Chung, MD and his associates at the Anchorage Radiation Therapy Center (ARTC). As in Anchorage, Alaska, a city that lies some 2,500 miles above the continental US. Unwilling to accept geography as an excuse, the center found a way to use a finance solution to bring a life-changing precision surgical tool to cancer patients in remote Alaska.

Surgery without the scalpel
The Elekta Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ is a radiation treatment tool created by Elekta, the Swedish pioneer in clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. This state-of-the-art precision technology offers non-invasive surgery to treat brain conditions that were once considered inaccessible or inoperable. It is often called ‘bloodless surgery’, because it offers the exactness of surgery, but without the scalpel. There is a growing trend for this type of precision medical equipment.

Same day local treatment
“The one thing we were lacking was the ability to treat intracranial [inside the brain] targets with the highest precision,” says Dr. Chung, Medical Director of ARTC. “Before we brought this technology to Anchorage, Alaskans had to travel to the continental US for treatment. Now they are in and out of the center in a single day.”

Smart healthcare finance solutions
“We offered a healthcare finance solution to Dr. Chung and his associates, in order to better allocate their capital budget, and ultimately improve the standard of care,” says Ian Dickson, Chief Financial Officer at Elekta. “DLL stands apart from its competitors, because of its extensive knowledge of the dynamic healthcare environment and commitment to achieving our business goals.”

The best medical technology comes at a price
“Whether you’re in a major city or a rural area, the best medical technology most often comes at a price,” says Amy Nelson, President of DLL’s Global Healthcare Business Unit. “Elekta’s Gamma Knife was the missing link in ARTC’s cancer treatment. If every medical facility had precision surgical technology like this, the fight against cancer would look different. We do what we can to help our healthcare partners be part of that positive change.”