The Value of Bringing Prostate Fusion into the Hospital OR, Surgery Center, Outpatient Clinic

For hospitals, the Navigo 4D Fusion Navigation System is not just important for providing access to a gold standard of care — it's a financial growth strategy for virtually any hospital. With low upfront costs, flexible payment options – and the ability to drive other valuable hospital services, the system pays for itself quickly. This blog outlines the clinical and financial advantages of adopting in-house MRI-US fusion.

The Clinical Case for Offering MRI-US Fusion Biopsies

MRI-US fusion prostate biopsies are now recommended for all patients with elevated PSAs (including biopsy-naïve men) by AUA, NCCN, NIH and EAU because studies have demonstrated 30-50% increased detection of high-grade disease over standard systematic biopsies typically done in physician office practices.

When MRI fusion prostate biopsy access is limited, patients often have to drive long distances for a procedure that takes less than thirty minutes. This creates unnecessary barriers to access to the gold standard of prostate cancer diagnosis.

However, in the past, many smaller community and rural Critical Access Hospitals have not been able to afford the high capital costs for fusion biopsy systems, despite some of the financial benefits of bringing fusion in-house.

Prostate Fusion Brings Urologists, Patients and Additional Billable Services

When patients have local access to fusion biopsies in your hospital, physicians will bring their patients to you. That also means increased referrals for diagnostic and treatment procedures.

• Prostate MRIs. Before every procedure, a prostate MRI must be performed to identify regions of interest for biopsy. Offering access to a prostate fusion system in the hospital means added MRI procedures so the MRI can be loaded into the fusion system prior to each biopsy. This means additional revenues to maximize your MRI capital investment.

• Prostate Biopsy Pathology. During each biopsy, 12-20 biopsy cores are taken which must be analyzed by a pathology lob. If you offer these services, you will capture this revenue that would typically go to another laboratory.

• Prostate Biopsy Case Volume. This is new revenue for many hospitals that do not currently offer prostate biopsies, since many biopsies are still done in the physician’s clinic – and the revenues can be significant.

• Anesthesia. Some patients may require anesthesia for the biopsy procedures, so this again, would be an incremental revenue opportunity.

• Prostatectomies and Radiation Procedures. With 30-50% increased detection of high-grade prostate cancer, providing fusion equipment will drive more whole prostate treatment procedures, which can generate significant revenues for the hospital.

• Focal Therapies. Targeted therapy for low grade cancers is an emerging modality, and it necessitates MRI fusion to effectively stage, target and treat lesions effectively. If you have physicians interested in these treatments, this can also drive incremental revenues.

When you add the prostate biopsy, MRI and pathology revenues together, they typically exceed $2500 per patient, and the additional treatment revenue due to better detection of high-grade prostate cancer is just the icing on the cake. Our hospital customers find the fusion system typically pays for itself within a few months.

In addition, on January 1, 2026, a new set of prostate biopsy codes will be implemented to better reflect the higher costs of various types of prostate biopsies, and 55700 (the current CPT code for prostate biopsies) will be deleted.1

How UC-CARE Navigo 4D Fusion Helps Keep Costs Low

Seamless Compatibility. Navigo integrates with most ultrasound systems, TRUS and Transperineal equipment, avoiding expensive new capital infrastructure.

• Flexible Payment Models. Opt for low upfront costs with a pay-per-procedure model (U.S. only), reducing initial investment and optimizing cash flow.

• SmartBx Biopsy Management System and Service and Maintenance Included. SmartBx, an innovative biopsy preservation system, increases prostate cancer detection by 25%, reduces lab biopsy processing costs by up to 50%, and allows you to pay as you perform biopsies for service, maintenance, support and software upgrades with no minimum volume requirements.

• Multiple System Needs. If your hospital wants to offer prostate fusion both in the OR or ASC and in the residency outpatient clinic to provide more opportunities for your residents to gain experience with fusion biopsies, Navigo’s affordability allows you to purchase multiple systems for less than the cost of one competitive fusion system.

Enhancing Ease of Use and Onboarding

Bringing fusion biopsies in-house with Navigo 4D isn't just cost-effective and profitable. It is the most automated fusion system in the market for ease of use and learning.

• Real-Time Automation. Navigo 4D reduces the learning curve, procedural time and potential for errors by automatically adjusting in real time for

  • patient movement

  • ultrasound settings changes

  • and automatically marking every single biopsy instantly when it is done without a button or pedal - See the importance of that here.

• Training provided until your staff is comfortable. Because the Navigo system tracks so well with everything a physician does without stopping, re-calibrating and re-starting, it typically only takes about five procedures for them to become comfortable. And it is so easy to use that many of our facilities do not even use an ultrasound tech to support the procedure! UC-CARE will support you every step of the way without any additional hidden costs.

• More Lives Saved. More Revenue Gained. Lower costs expand patient access to MRI-guided biopsies, increase hospital marketing opportunities and referrals, detect high-grade cancers earlier, and improve your diagnostic and treatment revenues and outcomes. Bringing Navigo Fusion to your facility is a win-win opportunity.

Discover how hospitals are using Navigo 4D to enhance patient care and boost revenue here. Want to learn more? Schedule a discovery call with UC-Care today and see how Navigo 4D can transform your hospital.

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References

1. American Medical Association. Summary of Panel Actions. May 2024, https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/may-2024-summary-of-panel-actions.pdf