MR departments seek to leverage AI to improve workflow, productivity

/in /by
magnetic resonance imaging

In 2023, the top two overall priorities for MR departments are to increase patient satisfaction with their MR imaging experience and improve MRI department workflow and productivity, according to IMV’s recently published 2023 MR Market Outlook Report.  

While a top priority across all hospital types, improving MRI department workflow and productivity is the number one priority for hospitals with 200 beds or more. One strategy hospitals are using to achieve this goal is to leverage AI and machine learning software. According to the survey, overall, 20% of sites are currently using AI/machine-learning tools to improve staff and department efficiency. Broken out by hospital size, this percentage increases to 23% for hospitals with 200 to 399 beds and 34% for hospitals with 400 beds or more, while sitting at a more modest 14% among hospitals with less than 200 beds. These data indicate that MRI departments in larger hospital sites are in a better position to realize gains in workflow and productivity, compared with those in smaller hospitals. 

Looking at procedure volumes, in 2023, overall there was an estimated 2.9% increase in MR procedures performed compared to 2022. Broken out by site type, hospital-based fixed MR procedures have increased 7.2%, while non-hospital based MR procedures have decreased by 1.2% year over year. 

Site Type MRI Procedure Volume Change Year-over-Year 
Overall 2.9% 
Hospital (fixed) 7.2% 
Non-Hospital -1.2% 

In 2023, 30% of MR sites are planning to purchase an MR scanner from 2023 through 2026. Survey respondents listed the following manufacturers being considered for these purchases: Siemens Healthineers (53%), GE HealthCare (50%), Philips (30%), Canon Medical Systems (14%), Fujifilm Medical Systems (11%), and United Imaging Healthcare (8%). 

Regarding MRI site operations, in 2023 on average hospital sites with fixed systems are open 12.6 hours per weekday per site and 12.5 hours in total over the weekend. Hospitals using mobile MRI systems are open for an average of 6.1 hours per weekday per site and 3.7 hours over the weekend. 

 Average Hours Open per Weekday per Site Average Hours Open per Weekend per Site 
Hospitals with Fixed MR 12.6 12.5 
Hospitals with Mobile MR 6.1 3.7 

With increased procedure volumes in hospital sites, the impetus to improve MRI department workflow and productivity, and the higher adoption rates of AI tools among larger hospital sites, workflow and efficiency results hospitals may be able to achieve will be interesting to monitor. 

Want to share your knowledge of medical imaging? Click here to sign up for the IMV Survey panel today. 

Davin Korstjens is a Senior Market Research Program Manager at IMV Medical Information Division, part of Science and Medicine Group. 

IMV’s 2023 MR Market Outlook Report explores market trends related to service contracts for diagnostic imaging equipment in U.S. hospitals. The report was published in November 2023 and is based on responses from 302 radiology administrators and technicians who participated in IMV’s nationwide survey from July 2023 – August 2023. Vendors covered in this report include Bayer, Bracco, Canon, Fujifilm, GE Healthcare, Guerbet, Lantheus, Philips, Samsung, Siemens and United Imaging.   

For information about purchasing IMV Market Outlook Reports, visit the corporate website at https://imvinfo.com/ or call 703-778-3080 ext. 1033 to speak with a representative. In addition to the report, all purchases will include a complimentary recording of an executive summary presentation of findings conducted by IMV’s Senior Program Manager. 

Disclosure: IMV Medical Information Division is a sister company of AuntMinnie.com 

CT Procedure Volumes Show Strong Growth, Driven by Hospital Based Procedures 

/in /by

CT procedure volumes increased 9.1% from 2022 to 2023, according to IMV’s recently published 2023 CT Market Outlook Report. While both hospital and non-hospital CT procedure volumes increased, hospital volumes increased at 9.8% while, non-hospital volumes increased 6.4% year over year. 

Type Change in CT Procedure Volumes 
Overall 9.1% 
Hospital 9.8% 
Non-Hospital 6.4% 

Looking ahead into 2024, 72% of CT sites surveyed anticipate that their 2024 CT procedures will increase compared to 2023, while 23% expect them to stay the same and just 1% of sites anticipate a decrease. One likely cause of the increase, with 60% of survey respondents rating 4 or 5 out of 5, is “Our CT procedures are increasing because some procedures are shifting from other imaging modalities to CT”.  

Looking into the site operations needed to handle these increased volumes, on average CT sites have 7.1 CT technologists per site with a range of 16.8 in 400+ bed hospitals to a low of 3.2 in independent imaging centers.  

Overall in 2023, an average of 2.2 CT technologists are involved with performing and preparing patients for CT exams on each scanner in their facility. This varies across sites as 34% of sites have one technologist performing these duties, 48% of sites have two, and a lower 17% of sites use three or more technologists to prepare patients for CT exams on each scanner.​ 

CT Technologists Performing and Prepping Patients for CT Exams Percentage of Sites 
1 34% 
2 48% 
3 7% 
4+ 10% 

CT procedure volumes have shown strong growth over the last few years and as volumes continue to increase the more efficient sites with available capacity are in the best position to realize the benefits from the increased volumes.  

Want to share your knowledge of medical imaging? Click here to sign up for the IMV Survey panel today. 

Davin Korstjens is a Senior Market Research Program Manager at IMV Medical Information Division, part of Science and Medicine Group. 

IMV’s 2023 CT Market Outlook Report explores market trends related to service contracts for diagnostic imaging equipment in U.S. hospitals. The report was published in October 2023 and is based on responses from 313 radiology administrators and technicians who participated in IMV’s nationwide survey from July 2023 – August 2023. Vendors covered in this report include Bayer, Bracco, Canon, Fujifilm, GE Healthcare, Guerbet, Philips, Samsung, Siemens and United Imaging.   

For information about purchasing IMV Market Outlook Reports, visit the corporate website at https://imvinfo.com/ or call 703-778-3080 ext. 1033 to speak with a representative. In addition to the report, all purchases will include a complimentary recording of an executive summary presentation of findings conducted by IMV’s Senior Program Manager. 

Disclosure: IMV Medical Information Division is a sister company of AuntMinnie.com. 

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption in radiology increases the top ranked use cases focus on clinical benefits

/in /by
Services Brain

Usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in diagnostic imaging has focused on use cases that enhance clinical benefits and optime workflows in the radiology department according to IMV’s recently published report, The 2023 Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Imaging Landscape. 

As of 2023, there are AI applications for all major medical diagnostic imaging modalities. The clinical applications of AI in radiology focus on supporting radiologists in clinical decision making with a focus on the areas of emergency medicine, stroke, cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease. Workflow applications of AI in imaging, focus on image processing, radiologist reading workflow, patient scheduling and communication. Combined, the clinical and workflow benefits brought about by the adoption of AI applications by radiology departments are expected to positively impact radiologist burnout. 

Looking at department ratings across X-ray, CT, MRI, mammography and ultrasound departments spanning from 2021 through 2023, reveals that larger 400+ bed hospitals are consistently more likely to be early adopters of AI technology than other site types. Across all modalities, the 400+ bed hospitals had ratings of 3.3/5, compared to other facility types with ratings of 2.6 to 3/5. 

Facility Type Early Adopter Rating (1-5) 
Over 400 bed hospitals 3.3 
All other facility types 2.6 

Regarding AI use case prioritization, analyzing data gathered across X-ray, nuclear medicine, CT, MRI and ultrasound modalities from 2021 through 2023, indicates the top two AI use cases are “AI/Machine Learning (ML) capabilities to improve image quality output”, with 51% of respondents ranking #1 or #2 and “AI/ML capabilities to improve radiology’s ability to more precisely diagnose patient conditions and enhance personalized medicine” with 48% of respondents ranking #1 or #2 out of 5 available options. 

The clinical and workflow benefits of incorporating AI into radiology are starting to positively impact patient care and radiologist burnout. This is an exciting area to watch for future advances and developments. 

Share your knowledge of diagnostic imaging. Click here to sign up for the IMV Survey panel today. 

Davin Korstjens is a Senior Market Research Program Manager at IMV Medical Information Division, part of Science and Medicine Group. 

The 2023 Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Imaging Landscape report explores market trends related to service contracts for diagnostic imaging equipment in U.S. hospitals. The report was published in October 2023 and summarizes AI clinical and business developments in 2023 as well as primary data analysis of responses from 959 radiology and biomedical managers and administrators who participated in IMV’s nationwide surveys form 2021-2023 covering X-ray, nuclear medicine, CT, MR mammography and ultrasound modalities. Over 130 vendors are covered in this report including GEHC, Philips and Siemens.   

For information about purchasing IMV Market Outlook Reports, visit the corporate website at https://imvinfo.com/ or call 703-778-3080 ext. 1033 to speak with a representative. In addition to the report, all purchases will include a complimentary recording of an executive summary presentation of findings conducted by IMV’s Senior Program Manager. 

Disclosure: IMV Medical Information Division is a sister company of AuntMinnie.com. 

Cybersecurity Overwhelmingly Expected to Increase in Importance in Service Management of Diagnostic Imaging Equipment  

/in /by
Service Image

For hospitals, the top three priorities over the next three years related to the service management of imaging equipment, are to reduce the mean time to repair imaging equipment, manage the service needs for imaging on a 24/7/365 basis and improve the cybersecurity of imaging equipment and networked healthcare information equipment.  

Looking more closely at the importance of cybersecurity in medical imaging device maintenance, 78% of survey respondents indicated they expect the importance of cybersecurity to increase, 19% to stay the same and 3% to decrease in importance in 2024 and beyond, according to the recently published IMV 2023 Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Service Outlook Report. 

The top two concerns noted by survey respondents regarding cybersecurity are ensuring the privacy of patients protected health information (PHI) and ransomware attacks. These concerns reflect the high importance of protecting the data stored on hospital networks and connected systems, because the consequences of data breaches or data corruption are so high and directly impact patient care and safety. 

According to survey respondents, the hospital IT department is the entity that has the most responsibility for ensuring the cybersecurity of medical imaging devices. 

Looking at service expenditures for diagnostic imaging equipment in 2022, the top modalities covered by service contracts were CT, X-ray, MRI and Ultrasound. Regarding the service provider type, in 2022, 49% of service-related spending was with an OEM, 41% with a third-party provider and 10% outside of contract coverage, such as for time, labor & materials or parts only expenditures. 

Service Provider Percentage of 2022 Service-related Spending 
OEM 49% 
Third-Party 41% 
Outside of Contract 10% 

The top 3 diagnostic imaging service providers in 2022, by share of expenditures were GE, Siemens and Crothall Healthcare. 

Service and maintenance have long been important aspects of managing diagnostic imaging equipment, now with the increase in equipment connectivity and hospital networking, cybersecurity is a new and important aspect of diagnostic imaging equipment management. 

Want to share your knowledge of medical imaging? Click here to sign up for the IMV Survey panel today. 

Davin Korstjens is a Senior Market Research Program Manager at IMV Medical Information Division, part of Science and Medicine Group. 

IMV’s 2023 Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Service Outlook Report explores market trends related to service contracts for diagnostic imaging equipment in U.S. hospitals. The report was published in August 2023 and is based on responses from 292 radiology and biomedical managers and administrators who participated in IMV’s nationwide survey from May 2023 -June 2023. Vendors covered in this report include Agfa, Aramark, BC technical, Canon, Carestream, Crothall Healthcare, Fujifilm, GE, Hologic, Konico Minolta, Philips, Renovo Solutions, Samsung, Shimadzu, Siemens, Sodexo, TriMedx, Unisyn, United Imaging, Ziehm.   

For information about purchasing IMV Market Outlook Reports, visit the corporate website at https://imvinfo.com/ or call 703-778-3080 ext. 1033 to speak with a representative. In addition to the report, all purchases will include a complimentary recording of an executive summary presentation of findings conducted by IMV’s Senior Program Manager. 

Ultrasound System Purchase Intent High on Anticipated Volume Shift from Other Modalities 

/in /by
Ultrasound Instrument

Robust ultrasound equipment purchase intent is being driven by the anticipation of shifting procedure volumes to ultrasound from other imaging modalities, according to the recently published IMV 2023 Ultrasound Market Summary Report.  

Looking at purchases planned from 2023-2026, 32% of sites are “planning” to purchase at least one type of ultrasound equipment and an additional 29% of sites are “maybe planning” a purchase. This yields a combined 61% of sites considering an ultrasound equipment purchase in the next several years. 

The top two future outlook factors noted in the survey by ultrasound departments are, “Our current general ultrasound technology meets our clinical and throughput needs”, with 66% of respondents rating 4 or 5 out of 5, and “Our ultrasound procedures are increasing because some procedures are shifting from other imaging modalities”, with 48% of respondents rating a 4 or 5 out of 5. Indicating that the anticipated rise in ultrasound procedure volumes from other modalities is likely contributing to purchase intent. 

The overall number of general ultrasound patient exams was down 2.3% from 38.5 million prior to the pandemic in 2019, to 37.6 million in 2022. 

Among the three types of ultrasound systems specifically, cart-based, tablet/laptop and handheld, 68% of sites have one type, 28% of sites have two types and 4% of sites have all three types in their facility.  

In terms of individual general ultrasound systems, 85% of units owned and managed by radiology departments are cart-based systems, 11% are laptop/tablet systems and 4% are handheld units. For cart-based ultrasound systems GE is present, having at least one unit, at 56% of sites, followed by Philips at 37%, Siemens at 18%, Canon at 15% and Samsung at 5%. 

Inspecting the distribution of exams performed with each ultrasound equipment type, 95% of ultrasound exams are performed with cart-based systems, 5% with laptop/tablet systems and <1% with handheld systems. 

Shifting to ultrasound department operations, as of the 2023 survey, overall there are 4.4 full-time equivalent (FTE) sonographers performing ultrasound exams per site.  

Ultrasound will be an interesting modality to watch to see if the shift in procedure volumes from other modalities continues and to see how the different types of ultrasound systems are utilized in a clinical setting. 

Want to share your knowledge of medical imaging? Click here to sign up for the IMV Survey panel today. 

Davin Korstjens is a Senior Market Research Program Manager at IMV Medical Information Division, part of Science and Medicine Group. 

IMV’s 2023 Ultrasound Market Summary Report explores market trends in U.S. hospitals including department priorities, future outlook, artificial intelligence trends, procedure volume, manufacture-installed base features and share, the use of OEM vs. third-party service providers, purchase plans, brand loyalty, and site operations characteristics. The report was published in July 2023 and is based on responses from 204 radiology/departmental administrators and clinicians who participated in IMV’s nationwide survey from February 2023 -April 2023. Vendors covered in this report include Butterfly Network, Canon, Clarius, Esaote, Fujifilm, GE, Healcerion, Hitachi, Konico Minolta, Mindray, Philips, Samsung, Siemens, and SonoScape.   

For information about purchasing IMV Market Outlook Reports, visit the corporate website at https://imvinfo.com/ or call 703-778-3080 ext. 1033 to speak with a representative. In addition to the report, all purchases will include a complimentary recording of an executive summary presentation of findings conducted by IMV’s Senior Program Manager. 

Disclosure: IMV Medical Information Division is a sister company of AuntMinnie.com.