Radiation firm sales grow

FORT MYERS — Radiation Therapy Services says revenues rose 11.1% to $180.3 million in the second quarter, but the increase wasn't enough to overcome higher expenses.

The Fort Myers-based operator of cancer radiation-treatment centers posted a net loss of nearly $19 million in the second quarter on higher expenses. That compared to a net loss of $4.8 million in the second quarter of 2011.

Radiation Therapy says revenues rose in large part due to recent acquisitions of centers in California, Florida, North Carolina and Argentina and management contracts of hospital facilities. For centers it has operated one year or longer, Radiation Therapy says treatments per day rose 4.1%, but revenues per treatment fell 3.5% on lower reimbursement rates.

Radiation Therapy President and CEO Daniel Dosoretz warned that potential lower reimbursement rates from Medicare next year would adversely impact the company's oncology services. Dosoretz says the company is lobbying the government to ensure that these lower rates don't become final later this year.

“If enacted, we believe the severity of the cuts would result in center closures, particularly in rural areas, thereby limiting important access to treatment for patients with cancer of all diagnoses,” Dosoretz says in a statement.