The Impact of COVID-19 on Imaging Facilities in the US and Europe

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COVID-19 Imaging Facility Tracker

IMV has been conducting its COVID-19 Imaging Facilities Tracking Study since April 10, 2020 on a biweekly basis, surveying imaging professionals in the United States and Europe about the impact of COVID-19 on their procedure volume, imaging budgets, and department operations.

The Wave 2 data collection was completed on May 7th, and maps of the respondents’ sentiment on the impact on their non-coronavirus procedure volume in the US and Europe can be accessed from the home page of this IMV website. The maps depict the respondents’ answers to the question “Is your department experiencing a major, minor, or no decline in non-coronavirus procedure volume due to COVID-19?” These maps can be viewed to see the results for each survey wave by state for the US and by country for Europe. (As of this date, you can also see interim results to this question from Wave 3, whose data collection will end on May 21st.)

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CT Contrast Media Utilization Reaches a Crossroads

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For the first time ever, the number and proportion of CT procedures conducted with no contrast media in the United States exceeded those conducted with contrast media in 2019, according to IMV Medical Information Division’s 2019 CT Market Outlook Report. IMV estimates that 52% of the 91.4 million CT procedures conducted in the U.S. in 2019 were performed without contrast media, which is up from 33% of the 76.0 million procedures conducted in 2007.

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PET Scan Volume Continuing to Grow at a Steady Pace

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Procedure volume in the PET market is continuing to grow at about 6% per year in the United States since 2013, reaching its highest level ever in the U.S. in 2019.

An estimated 2,200,800 clinical PET scans were performed in U.S. hospital and non-hospital sites using fixed PET imaging systems or mobile PET services, according to IMV’s newly published “2020 PET Imaging Market Summary Report.” Compared to an estimated 2,086,000 PET scans performed in 2018, total PET scans increased about 6% to 2,200,800 in 2019, representing the highest level of PET scan volume to date in the U.S. Moreover, based on estimates for the next twelve months provided by the survey respondents, total PET scans will continue the single-digit growth trend of a 6-7% increase in PET scans in 2020.

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CT Departments Seek Workflow Improvements to Address Increased CT Utilization

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CT imaging procedures have reached an all-time high in the United States, reaching an estimated 91.4 million in 2019, which is up 3% from 88.7 million CT procedures in 2018, according to IMV Medical Information Division’s newly published 2019 CT Market Outlook Report.

This increase in total CT procedures is mirrored in the sentiment expressed by the respondents to IMV’s survey, where 79% of the CT sites indicated their 2019 CT patient volume increased over their 2018 volume, which is a 12-point increase from 67% of the respondents in IMV’s 2016 survey indicating patient volume increases.

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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 →