KLAS releases 'Best of Medical Equipment' vendor list for 2009
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The report is based on nearly 3,500 provider survey responses.
When evaluating vendors and scores, the firm said that it is important to understand what the market is capable of delivering, as some market segments perform better than others. For the awards, KLAS reported that the highest-performing medical equipment market segment was CR, multi-plate; and the lowest was smart pumps.
According to KLAS, the vendors awarded have excelled in their respective market segments. The company said its categories represent equipment that currently provides the broadest operational and clinical impact to healthcare organizations.
Medical Equipment Best in KLAS Winners are:
- CR (Multi-Plate): Konica Minolta Xpress Dual Bay
- Digital mammography: GE Healthcare's Senographe DS
- CT (64-slice, plus): Toshiba Aquilion 64
- Smart pumps: B. Braun Outlook (LVP)
- Digital x-ray: Shimadzu RADspeed
- Ultrasound: Toshiba Xario
- MRI - 1.5T: Toshiba Vantage
The 2009 top 20 overall medical equipment vendor ranking is for vendors that have a minimum of three separate products rated in three separate medical equipment market segments, which this year rank as: Toshiba America Medical Systems (90.53); Fujifilm Medical Systems (88.41); GE Healthcare (86.45); Philips Healthcare (84.52); Siemens Healthcare (84.39); and McKesson (75.96). The overall score is calculated by using all data from each of the 40 performance categories gathered over the past 13 months for each of the vendor's products measured.
Among the multi-plate CR vendors, the products are ranked as follows: Konica Minolta Xpress Dual Bay; Carestream DirectView 975; Fujifilm FCR XG5000; Fujifilm FCR ClearView CS; Agfa HealthCare CR 85-X; and Philips PCR Eleva Corado.
Among the single-plate CR vendors, the products are ranked as follows: Philips PCR Eleva; Fujifilm FCR Carbon X/XL; Agfa CR 35-X; Konica Minolta Regius Nano; and Carestream DirectView 825/850.
Among the CT vendors, which have at least 64-slice devices, the products are ranked as follows: Toshiba Aquilion 64; GE LightSpeed VCT; Siemens Somatom Definition dual-source CT; Siemens Somatom Sensation 64; and Philips Brilliance 64.
Among the CT devices, which have less than 64-slices, the products are ranked as follows: Siemens Somatom Emotion 16; Toshiba Aquilion 16; Toshiba Aquilion 32; Philips Brilliance 40; and GE LightSpeed 16.
Among the digital x-ray vendors, the products are ranked as follows: Shimadzu RADspeed; Siemens Axiom Multix M; Fujifilm FDR Velocity SpeedSuite; GE Definium 8000; and Philips DigitalDiagnost.
Among 1.5T MRI vendors, the products are ranked as follows: Toshiba Vantage; Siemens Magnetom Symphony; Hitachi Medical Systems Echelon; Siemens Magnetom Espree; Philips Intera; and GE Signa HDx. However, among the 3T vendors, the respondents ranked the products as: Siemens Magnetom Trio; GE Signa HDx; and Philips Achieva. And for open MRI systems, the Hitachi Airis Elite 3T ranked well above the others.
Among the digital mammography vendors, the products are ranked as follows: GE Senographe DS; Hologic Selenia; GE Senographe Essential; Fujifilm Aspire ClearView-CSm (CR); and Siemens Mammomat NovationDR.
Among the ultrasound vendors, the products are ranked as follows: Toshiba Xario; Toshiba Aplio; Zonare Medical Systems z.one; GE Logiq; and Philips iU22. Also, among the hand-carried ultrasound products, the products are ranked as follows: Terason t3000; Biosound Esaote MyLab 30CV; GE Logiq e; SonoSite MicroMaxx; and GE Vivid i.
KLAS said it utilized a three-step process to collect the performance data. First, the firm collected a series of direct product evaluations completed by healthcare provider organizations. Second, KLAS performed confidential interviews with the IT execs and department directors completing the questionnaire to gather valuable information about strengths, weaknesses and future expectations for the product. Third, the gathered data is subjected to an internal audit. During the audit, the data sets are reviewed by a KLAS executive and at least two other people.
Among the responders, providers between one and 200 beds made up 52 percent; while large healthcare systems, of more than 500 beds, made up 10 percent of the responders. Department managers made up the majority of responders, with 47 percent and 31 percent, respectively. CIOs, IT directors, IT managers CFO/CEO/COO made up the rest of the responders.