CMS provides reimbursement for CT lung cancer screening, but that doesn’t mean every eligible patient has access to it.

That's why Carolina HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute is deploying its Mobile Lung CT Unit to underserved and uninsured populations in the Carolinas.

Regular cancer screening has been proven essential to early diagnosis, intervention and a better chance of survival. But financial constraints, long drive times and lack of public transportation are barriers for eligible patients.
"We firmly believe that by taking advanced, low radiation lung cancer screenings to these communities, new lung cancer patients will be diagnosed at an earlier stage and will have access to a broad array of support and treatments,” Dr. Derek Raghavan, president of Levine Cancer Institute, said in a statement.

The Mobile Lung CT is equipped with Samsung Neurologica’s BodyTom portable CT scanner. It’s a full-body, 32-slice system with an 85-centimeter gantry and 60-centimeter field of view, which is the largest available in a portable CT.

It’s wirelessly connected to the hospital, so images can be transferred, and two iPads are onboard to educate patients on smoking cessation and other healthy lifestyle information.

In addition to the mobile unit, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is providing funding for the LUNG B.A.S.E.S. 4 Life program. If a patient is diagnosed with lung cancer, they’re provided with comprehensive education, clinical intervention and nurses that support them through treatment decisions and fears.

Patients who require biopsies or other interventions are taken to the Levine Cancer Institute or Carolinas HealthCare System facility regardless of their insurance status.

Portable CT scanners are also used inside of mobile stroke units to treat stroke patients en route to the hospital. The units are specialized ambulances or other emergency medical vehicles equipped with a portable CT such as Samsung Neurologica’s CereTom CT.

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