Magnetic Resonance (MR) Providers are Working Harder as their Procedure Volume Grows

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The 2019 MR Market Outlook Report highlights how MR imaging procedures have reached an all-time high in the United States, reaching an estimated 42.0 million in 2019, up 8% over 39.0 million in 2018, according to a new report by IMV Medical Information Division.

This annual increase appears to have reversed a nationwide slowdown in MR procedure growth.  MR procedures had been rising at a 15% average annual rate from 1998 to 2003, but then slowed to a 4% annual rate from 2004 to 2016.  Then, in 2017, total MR procedures declined 8% to 36.0 million, but is back in the plus zone, growing 8% per year since 2017.  This slowdown may have been influenced by the growing usage of “Appropriate Use” criteria in ordering MR procedures, which were further reinforced by a change in reporting policy from the CMS, mandating that under the PAMA (Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014), physicians are to utilize a clinical decision support system for ordering imaging studies (MR, CT, PET, and NM only) to assure appropriate use of imaging resources and to minimize over-utilization. Read more →

Radiologists in Global Markets Optimistic about Imaging Procedure Growth, but Priorities for Imaging Equipment are Local

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Diagnostic imaging modalities have become essential tools in the diagnosis and management of patient conditions throughout the world.  However, local economic conditions and healthcare policies continue to influence the relative adoption of imaging modalities in the different global markets. To monitor and compare how the imaging modalities are being adopted on a worldwide basis, IMV’s inaugural syndicated 2019 Global Imaging Market Outlook Report covers ten key country and geographical markets in North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Japan, India, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Over 300 respondents participated in IMV’s global survey, and they represent key opinion leaders, with nearly half of the respondents being the chair/chief/heads of their radiology departments, and over half being practicing radiologists.  The radiologists also cover a broad cross section of experience in terms of their years in practice, with one quarter of the responding radiologists having been in practice for more than 25 years, 24% for 16-25 years, 19% for 11-15 years, 19% for 6-10 years, and 13% for 0-5 years.  Over half of the participants are associated with large 500+ bed hospitals and/or academic/university hospitals in these global markets.

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Imaging Technology Continues to Advance Precision in Treating Radiation Therapy Patients

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2019, the number of cancer patients being treated with radiation therapy in the United States is estimated to be 1,148,900, according to IMV’s newly published 2019 Radiation Therapy Market Summary Report.  The use of radiation therapy to treat cancer patients is relatively stable, with the estimated number of patient cases increasing at an average annual rate of 2%.  The top three cancer types being treated using radiation therapy include breast, prostate, and lung cancer, which are performed by over 90% of the radiation therapy sites.

IMV’s report provides a department-wide view of the key radiation therapy technologies used in treating cancer patients, including external beam therapy equipment, image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), brachytherapy equipment, treatment planning systems, simulators (X-ray, CT, PET, and MRI), and oncology information systems. Read more →

Diagnostic Imaging Customer Experience: Five Keys to Success

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IMV just completed its second year of asking radiologists, technicians, administrators, and others involved in the use and purchasing of diagnostic imaging equipment and have published the results in Benchmarking For 2020 Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Customer Experience. We’ve studied 12 different manufacturers to better understand how they are delivering on their customer experience, and what areas manufacturers have room to improve in. Here we share the top five factors that customers have identified as being most important to their overall experience with manufacturers of diagnostic imaging equipment.

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Fixed C-arm Technology Enables Improved Outcomes for Minimally Invasive Procedures

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Over the past decade, the continuing development of fixed C-arm technology and clinical innovations have been shaping how fixed C-arms are used, and the distinction between the traditional cardiac cath lab vs. interventional radiology (IR) lab has become blurred.  Such equipment can be installed, not only in radiology-related departments (e.g., radiology, imaging, interventional radiology, special procedures, angiography labs), and cardiology-related departments (e.g., cath labs, cardiology, cardiovascular, vascular, endovascular, electrophysiology labs), and but also in surgery-related departments (e.g., hybrid OR, surgery departments), with multiple physician specialties having access to the labs.

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