Frequently Asked Questions

MacGillan Consulting advises hospitals and imaging programs on the operational side of PET/MRI, including workflow design, protocol strategy, staffing models, reimbursement positioning, and go-live readiness. We focus on the operational layer of a PET/MRI program and seek to complement your OEM vendor's applications team. We are a consulting firm, not an equipment vendor, reseller, or contractor.

Hospitals, academic medical centers, pediatric hospitals, and outpatient imaging centers that are evaluating, procuring, installing, or operating a PET/MRI program. Engagements typically involve the Radiology Director or Imaging Program Manager, the CFO or VP Finance, and the Medical Director or CMO.

OEM vendor applications specialists own the scanner: console-level protocol building, acceptance testing, and platform training. MacGillan focuses on the program layer: how protocols fit together across a service line, how the schedule template supports revenue mix, how staffing competencies map to volume growth, and how your financial projections hold up against CMS reality. Our work complements your OEM vendor; we do not compete with them.

There are three common starting points for an engagement with us. First, brand-new PET/MRI programs or a first program in the last five years; the operational learning curve is typically 12 to 18 months without guidance. Second, operational optimization for an established PET/MRI program that wants to improve workflow, reimbursement position, staffing efficiency, or protocol mix. Third, pre-purchase strategy and OEM quote review. A free 30-minute discovery call is the fastest way to find the right starting point; we will tell you honestly if we are the wrong fit.

Our services map to the PET/MRI scanner lifecycle. Before purchase. A Quote Intelligence Brief gives you an independent read on an OEM proposal in 1 to 2 weeks, surfacing the lifetime-cost line items the headline number hides. Before install (6 to 18 months out). Tier 1 Operational Readiness Assessment is a structured pre-installation review covering workforce model, suite logistics, patient flow, scheduling assumptions, and reimbursement posture. Post go-live, under volume. Tier 2 Workflow and Staffing Review is a 4 to 8 week engagement covering throughput, room turnover, technologist scheduling, training curriculum development, protocol library setup in coordination with the OEM vendor's applications team, and MRI safety culture for staff transitioning from PET/CT or general radiology. Mature program. Tier 3 Capital and ACR Readiness for accreditation cycles and board review; a standalone Capital Reauthorization Packet when the board or finance committee re-approves capital for a replacement scanner, an expansion, or a major upgrade; PET/MRI Reimbursement Recovery for programs leaking revenue the institution is not capturing. Feeding a theranostics program. PET/MRI Theranostics-Readiness sets up the diagnostic imaging side that feeds an existing theranostics program: scan cadence, coding and coverage posture, and a dosimetry-ready physics hand-off. Therapy delivery and dosimetry stay with your clinical and physics teams. Measurement spine alongside the lifecycle. POMI™ (PET/MRI Operations Maturity Index) is our framework. A Snapshot tells you where you stand. A Diagnostic tells you what is driving it. A Roadmap tells you how to fix it. A Tracker keeps the picture current. Ongoing. A quarterly Optimization Retainer provides continuous read between engagements. Methodology and worksheets stay behind a signed SOW.

Three categories are always out of scope regardless of engagement size. First, direct hiring decisions; we advise on staffing models and competencies, but we do not recruit or employ staff. Second, revenue cycle management execution; we advise and consult on the operational and coding framework, but claim submission and code assignment are handled by your revenue cycle team or a specialist subcontractor. Third, legal, tax, or investment advice; we provide operational and financial analysis, not legal or financial advice. Radiopharmaceutical therapy delivery, therapy dosing, dosimetry calculation, and physicist duties likewise stay with your clinical and physics teams. Site construction and suite build-out remain the responsibility of your OEM project manager, engineers, and specialty contractors. Phantom QC and routine quality testing are performed on-site by your medical physicist and qualified technologists, consistent with ACR and site physics policy.

Our methodology is vendor-neutral and applies to all current-generation PET/MRI platforms in the North American market. Legacy platforms can also be supported for optimization and end-of-life planning. Operational depth varies by platform; specifics are shared on the discovery call.

Yes, through our Quote Intelligence Brief engagement. We review OEM vendor proposals side-by-side, apply our operational framework (including the true cost of ownership beyond the headline number), and surface the operational implications of each platform. We do not accept commissions, referral fees, or kickbacks on client purchases, and our analysis is independent. For transparency: we may accept training sessions or site visits offered by OEM vendors (travel and training) so we can stay current on platform updates and workflows. Our final recommendation to you is advisory; the purchase decision rests with your institution.

Most engagements are priced as fixed-fee deliverables; you know the total before work begins. Engagement sizes range from short fixed-fee briefs to multi-phase programs, and quarterly retainers are available for ongoing advisory. The 30-minute discovery call is free of charge. A 1-hour intake call follows for scoping, billed at our hourly rate. If a full engagement follows within 90 days of intake, the 1-hour intake fee is credited against the Statement of Work. Additional scoping hours (when the scope is complex) are billed at the same rate and are not creditable. Hourly billing also applies to ad-hoc requests outside an existing SOW. Specific pricing is finalized in the SOW after intake.

PET/MRI engagements vary too widely. A single-scanner outpatient center and a multi-site academic program are not the same scope. Listing a specific number would either underprice complex work or overprice simple work. We provide a precise, fixed-fee quote in the Statement of Work after a 30-minute discovery call, based on your actual scope.

Invoices are issued through Stripe® on Net 30 terms. Fixed-fee engagements are typically billed on milestone completion; retainers are billed at the start of each quarter. We accept ACH, credit card, and institutional check. Stripe publishes its own card-processing rates at stripe.com/pricing, which may apply to credit card payments. Payment terms and payment methods accepted are specified in the signed SOW.

A POMI Snapshot runs about 5 business days. A Quote Intelligence Brief runs 2 to 4 weeks. Single-phase engagements typically run 2 to 8 weeks. Multi-phase programs (for example, pre-install through 90 days post go-live) run 4 to 9 months. Ongoing advisory retainers run on quarterly (three-month) cycles, with no commitment beyond the first quarter; renewal is at the client's discretion.

Our business analysis and project management practices follow Project Management Institute (PMI®) standards, including the PMI Guide to Business Analysis (2nd Edition), the PMBOK® Guide (8th Edition), the PMI Practice Standard for Project Estimating, the Agile Practice Guide, and the Risk Management Practice Guide. For engagements that include imaging AI or informatics scope, we also apply PMI Citizen Developer and CPMAI™ frameworks. Every CFO-facing deliverable (financial model, business case, feasibility analysis) is cross-referenced to these standards and cited in the deliverable itself. Visit pmi.org for the standards library. PMI, PMBOK, and CPMAI are trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

The discovery call (30 minutes, free) is a fit conversation. We surface what you are trying to solve, whether MacGillan is the right help, and which starting service makes sense. If both sides want to proceed, we schedule a 1-hour intake call to scope the engagement in detail. Intake is billed at our hourly rate. If a full engagement follows within 90 days of intake, the 1-hour intake fee is credited against the Statement of Work, so the standard intake is effectively no-cost to clients who proceed. Additional scoping hours (for complex scopes that need more than one hour) are billed at the same hourly rate and are not creditable; they appear as line items on the SOW if the engagement proceeds, or are invoiced separately if not. After intake, we send a written proposal with a fixed-fee quote (or hourly basis for the rare scope that requires it) and a Statement of Work for your review. If you sign, work begins at kickoff. If you do not proceed, intake and any additional scoping hours are invoiced separately.

Remote primary. Most deliverables (workflow analysis, financial modeling, protocol strategy, stakeholder presentations) are produced remotely. On-site visit frequency, timing, and scope are determined by the SOW and are usually anchored to key milestones (kickoff, go-live readiness review, go-live week). On-site visits are billed at the applicable on-site daily or hourly rate in addition to travel and lodging at cost; specifics are written into the SOW.

No, and anyone who promises this is not being honest with you. ACR PET/MRI accreditation requires roughly six months of clinical case volume before submission, so the earliest realistic accreditation timeline is approximately 6 to 9 months post first patient. We help you build the accreditation roadmap, advise on the phantom testing protocol and submission package structure, and project-manage the accreditation workstream. The phantom acceptance and routine QC testing itself is performed on-site by your medical physicist and qualified technologists, consistent with ACR and site physics policy. The timeline is set by ACR, not by us.

Every engagement produces a structured package: a written report or strategy document, a financial workbook (Excel) if financial analysis is in scope, a stakeholder presentation (PowerPoint) for executive review, and a risk register. All deliverables carry MacGillan Consulting branding, CONFIDENTIAL markings where appropriate, and cite the professional standards they are built on (PMBOK®, ACR, CMS, SNMMI, and others as relevant to scope).

Yes to NDAs. We operate under a mutual NDA by default, executed before detailed financial or operational data is shared. On BAAs, most of our engagements do not involve Protected Health Information (PHI) because we work at the program and workflow level rather than the patient record level. If an engagement does require PHI access, we will execute a BAA before any PHI changes hands. The discovery call itself does not require either document.

Your dedicated SharePoint workspace is provisioned at engagement kickoff. The invitation email comes from the Principal Consultant and includes your personal access link. Portal contents include your signed SOW, active deliverables, meeting notes, risk register, and shared reference materials. Portal access is per engagement and tied to a signed NDA.

Submit the request to your Principal Consultant in writing (email is acceptable). The change-order process and turnaround are governed by your signed SOW and depend on the complexity of the request and consultant availability (the consultant may be actively engaged at another client site). Work does not begin on out-of-scope items until the change order is countersigned. Rush work, when available, is billed at the applicable Rush rate and requires verbal confirmation by phone when possible, followed by email confirmation.

The client owns the engagement-specific deliverables: your risk register, your financial model populated with your data, your staffing plan, your executive presentation. MacGillan retains ownership of its pre-existing methodology, templates, and frameworks that were used to produce those deliverables. This is documented in every SOW and is a firm line. Methodology IP is not transferred; engagement outputs are.

POMI™ (PET/MRI Operations Maturity Index) is MacGillan's measurement framework for hybrid PET/MRI programs. PET/MRI sits at the intersection of nuclear medicine, MRI, oncology workflow, and revenue cycle. Each of those domains has its own measurement language. None of them measures the program as a whole. POMI combines an operational view of the program (workflow, scheduling, throughput, quality, reimbursement posture, data infrastructure) and a clinical view (protocol fitness, diagnostic confidence, quantitative integrity, multidisciplinary communication) into a single composite for the whole program. The scoring rubric, dimension definitions, and tier-routing logic are MacGillan-LLC IP and stay behind a signed SOW.

A Snapshot is a one-time, productized assessment delivered in five business days. Inputs: a 60 to 90 minute structured intake with the program leader, a light document review (cost report excerpt, denial summary, ACR letter when available), and an optional walk-through of the suite, MRI safety zones, and reading workflow. Outputs: a composite score, a maturity tier, a top-three strengths list, a top-five gaps list with priority order, and a recommended next step. Decision-grade output for the program leader. A Snapshot commits the program to the Snapshot only. The next step belongs to the program leader.

Programs land in one of five maturity tiers, and each tier maps to a playbook. Stabilize. Foundations are missing and operational fragility is acute; the playbook stops the bleeding before adding maturity. Systematize. Foundations exist but are inconsistent; repeatability and process discipline become the priority. Standardize. Process maturity is real; variability across people and protocols becomes the next bottleneck. Optimize. Standardization is mostly in place; margin and throughput optimization become the focus. Lead. Reference-grade program; benchmarking, publications, and consortium leadership are realistic. Tier alone does not drive the recommendation. An overlay shared during the Snapshot debrief separates operational maturity from clinical maturity so we can route the right engagement to the right starting point.