In its annual Diagnostic Imaging Watch, released in June, the healthcare supply contracting firm Novation reported that, after a three-year decline in sales of capital diagnostic imaging equipment, hospitals and imaging centers appear to be resuming the acquisition process.
Some industry analysts are predicting sales growth of up to 4 percent in this calendar year, and manufacturers confirm an increase in requests for price quotes and orders.
Dan Knepper, Novation's director of diagnostic imaging, said capital equipment purchases were down in the last few years, mainly due to budgets. "Now we are seeing a pent-up demand to replace aging equipment," he said.
Jake Brownlow, director of radiology services at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., said there has been a decrease in standard imaging equipment acquisition throughout his organization in the past few years. "We took the wait-and-see approach regarding the landscape of legislation and reimbursement," he said.
Brownlow expects INTEGRIS to purchase imaging equipment in the next year or two. "Our organization will continue to acquire or replace imaging technology that makes sense from the return on investment standpoint and from a patient throughput spectrum," he said.
Imaging is a powerful tool in diagnosing and treating disease. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography are among the most common diagnostic imaging equipment. For example, annual spending on CT is about $2.1 billion today.
"We see the largest amount of overall spend in the two areas of MRI and CT," Knepper confirmed.
Older CT scanners are commonly being replaced with 64-slice units because the higher slice machines perform faster tests. The new equipment also has software to monitor radiation, and the machine will inform the technician if the patient's exposure is too high.
MRI machines with greater magnet strength are replacing units currently in use, while another buying trend is toward open machines versus the older, closed models. Open MRI machines can better accommodate larger patients and those with claustrophobia.
Another shift Novation expects to see is an increased need for ultrasound units.
"In the past ultrasound was seen as a radiology tool. Now it is used across the medical spectrum, from emergency rooms to operating rooms to physicians' offices," Knepper said. He noted that it's too soon to tell what changes might occur with ultrasound purchasing, but believes it's an area to watch for growth.
One possible obstacle for the recovery of capital investment in diagnostic equipment is the Affordable Care Act's new rule requiring machines to be in use 75 percent of the time or risk further reduction in reimbursement.
Dan Ward, Novation's portfolio executive for diagnostic imaging, believes an assessment of the real impact of the ACA rule is premature, but he does think it will be one factor among many that healthcare facilities consider when making major purchasing decisions.
"Purchasing decisions are based on many factors, such as the age of existing equipment, the clinical areas a facility needs to cover and the services they offer, as well as space considerations and funding," Ward said. "The ACA rule won't be the biggest factor, but it's fair to believe it will be taken into consideration."
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