News

The Roundtable: CT Equipment

This month, TechNation asked CT Equipment experts to share their advice for purchasing and maintaining CT equipment.

Wed Dec 12 2012By TechNation Magazine

 

This month, TechNation asked CT Equipment experts to share their advice for purchasing and maintaining CT equipment. Responders address issues such as making sense of new technology, extending existing device life and coming up with an appropriate maintenance plan. Responders include Leon Gugel, President of Metropolis International, Trey McIntyre, President of International Medical Equipment & Service, Inc., and Rick Player, President of MIT Technologies.

What are the biggest trends right now in the CT equipment market?

GUGEL: The trend that we are seeing is that hospitals are very hesitant on buying anything they can’t justify for, owing to the current state of the economy. The state of evolution has peaked for the moment, maybe for another two years. This is also a reason that facilities are hesitant: until better dose reduction is in place, this will be the norm. Both new tube designs and beam algorithms are being tested, and these innovations will hit the market in three to five years.

MCINTYRE: There is definitely a decrease in the value. Whether it’s from a down economy, or the uncertainty about the future of reimbursements—buyers are struggling to make decisions for capital equipment. All of that should bolster previouslyowned CT sales, but that’s been tempered by the reaction of OEMs. New equipment is so aggressively priced, secondary market dealers have to find innovative ways to add value and convey quality.

PLAYER: Money is tight with the cuts in reimbursements. Hospitals and clinics are looking for ways to reduce costs. CT service is one way. With service contracts that can well exceed $10K per month, facilities are looking at ways to cut costs. We now have hospitals that in the past paid OEM prices are now looking at ISOs for service.

How will the market for CT equipment evolve in the next five years? How will that affect service of the equipment?

GUGEL: The market will evolve within the three-year mark as higher detector scanners come to market. Many OEMs are also developing lower dose technology, and this should help. Because of this service will be a boon for the OEMs. Third party companies will have an edge in pricing, but they lack full software discs and repair procedures for newer systems. This means that large hospitals and private imaging centers will rely on costly OEM service.

MCINTYRE: Hospitals and imaging facilities will likely continue to extend the life of their CT by finding better, lower-cost service solutions and parts providers. There may be a move to creating in-house service or hybrid solutions, and everyone from OEMs to ISOs to replacement parts brokers will have to continue to identify very specific needs to fill, to become a small part in a bigger solution or expand and leverage offerings.

Technology development may continue to tread water while the flow of R&D dollars has slowed. Much of the market has realized a 4or 16-slice CT works well enough, so then equipment-life management costs can push sales.

PLAYER: Because of the cuts I think you will see facilities keeping their equipment longer than in the past. Larger providers use to replace equipment as soon as it’s depreciated. I think they will hold on to their equipment longer into its life cycle.

The biggest unknown is our government who knows what impact they will have on our industry.

Read full article in the December 2012 issue of TechNation Magazine.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Please review our Privacy Policy for more details.
I Agree