Roger Faselt and his team of health care professionals make house calls.

Faselt is president of Quality Medical Imaging, a locally based, licensed and certified mobile medical imaging company which offers portable X-ray, ultrasound, EKG, bone-density testing, monitoring services and PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) lines.

Founded in 2001 by Faselt and his wife, Deanna, Quality Medical Imaging (formerly Portable Medical Imaging) serves Southern Nevadans who are unable to travel to hospitals and medical centers for imaging services. The company also provides mobile imaging services to residents of local nursing and assisted living facilities.

"(House calls) are making a big comeback, especially in Las Vegas, and I think it's a really terrific service," said Faselt, a Midwest native who attended the University of Iowa, where he studied to become a registered X-ray and ultrasound technician. "It also saves the system (Medicare or Medicaid) a tremendous amount of money -- a typical patient might be very elderly and not have transportation -- and an ambulance ride to a hospital costs hundreds of dollars and emergency room visits thousands. We can take that X-ray (and conduct) the entire exam at the patients' home for a few hundred dollars."

A Las Vegas resident since 1989, Faselt first visited Southern Nevada to interview for a position as an ultrasound technician at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.

"It was President's Day weekend and the weather was perfect," he said. "I went back to Iowa and packed up my stuff and moved here a week later."

Shortly after joining the staff at Sunrise, Faselt was named supervisor of the ultrasound department, a position he held until the entrepreneurial bug bit in 2001.

"I always had kind of an entrepreneurial kind of spirit, but never knew what to do," he said. "The recurring theme was that I should do what I knew, and basically, working at a large hospital for so many years, a big part of my life was ultrasound and that was what I was really good at and enjoyed doing. Also, one of my wife's friends was married to a doctor who did house calls and was very dissatisfied with the companies that would do X-rays and ultrasounds for him. When I heard him talk about that the light bulb went off. So I started to do research on mobile equipment and that's what got us started."

Faselt launched the company with a couple of hundred thousand dollars -- "It took everything we had" -- purchasing one ultrasound and two X-ray machines, and offering those services exclusively. He discovered that mobile imaging was a largely untapped niche with lucrative potential.

"We've been profitable and I think part of that is because in the beginning, I did almost all of the technical exams and my wife ran the office and did the billing," he said, adding that managed growth has also contributed to the company's success. "You always want to grow and to grow fast but one of the things we've always been conscientious about is to grow gracefully -- we want to get bigger but always offer the (most) timely, high-quality service, and I think there is a lot of room for growth in Las Vegas because of the growing and aging population."

Quality Medical Imaging, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, serves 150 to 200 patients per week, working with a number of referring staff physicians from hospitals and medical facilities in the valley.

This includes Dr. Lance Eisner, a local podiatrist.

"As far as professionalism and integrity, (Quality Medical Imaging is) probably the best out there," said Eisner, who has been working with the company for more than a year. "I've had dealings with other portable radiography groups and by far Roger's enterprise is the best. I've had problems with other groups' not showing up at patients' residences and problems with technicians not being appropriate with patients, instances that have been very upsetting to me. But Roger and his operation are above reproach and very conscientious."

Dr. Gregory Bryan, who practices internal medicine, also lauded the company.

"I've known Roger since he started the company and he has been our most responsive vendor," Bryan said. "He's also one of the most honest people I know -- he'll never try and double charge or if there's a question about an interpretation of a film he'll go out and repeat the study for free. If everybody worked with us as well as he did, our job would be a lot easier. The only problem is the guy never takes a vacation."

Since its inception, Quality Medical Imaging has expanded its workforce as well as its scope of services, and now employs four nurses, 10 technicians and six office staff members.

"We have a tremendous group of people who make up our company," Faselt said. "We're very picky about the people we hire. There are human lives attached to the work we do and if you do a good job you can really help people -- and that's why it's so important to do a good job."

As the company continues to grow, Faselt still makes regular house calls.

"I still do exams myself almost every day because I feel it's important for me to be out there doing what my employees are doing so I understand the challenges they face," he said.