Report: As cardiology IT sales rise, customers seek ease and integration
The U.S. cardiology IT market has been picking up since 2008 and is projected to continue to increase over the next two years, with most facilities looking for ease of use and integration capabilities in their IT solutions, according to a survey by research firm CapSite.
The report, published in September, surveyed more than 300 U.S. hospitals about the status of their cardiovascular information systems (CVIS) and cardiology PACS.
The survey found that less than 20 percent of recent cardiology IT deals were part of a larger enterprise clinical/EHR decision. "This is interesting given the healthcare industry's focus on achieving meaningful use of EHR and the HITECH Act component of ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]," said Michael Lee, research director at CapSite.
However, in recognition of the momentum to meet meaningful use criteria, at least two-thirds of new purchases were made in 2009 and 2010, and one-quarter of respondents indicated they are planning to purchase a new cardiology IT system.
The top attributes of cardiology IT systems favored by respondents were ease of use (27 percent) and integration capabilities (22 percent). Other considerations, in descending order, were access capabilities (12 percent), dependability/reliability (11 percent), functionality (10 percent), cost (9 percent), support (5 percent) and reporting capabilities (4 percent).
Fewer hospitals will make their purchases within six months (9 percent) and beyond 18 months (13 percent). The middle ground is close, with 22 percent planning a purchase within six to 12 months and 18 percent buying within 13 to 18 months.
The vendors being considered by study participants are GE Healthcare (22 percent), Philips Healthcare (19 percent) McKesson (17 percent), Siemens (11 percent), Agfa HealthCare (7 percent), Lumedx (6 percent), Merge Healthcare (5 percent), Carestream Health (4 percent) and others (9 percent).
These numbers do not differ significantly from the current market share of participants: Philips (22 percent), GE (20 percent), McKesson (14 percent), Agfa and Siemens (10 percent), Lumedx (5 percent), Merge and Carestream (4 percent), Fujifilm Medical Systems (3 percent) and others (8 percent).
Vendor product deployment is almost evenly split among small (less than 200 beds), medium (between 200 and 400 beds) and large (more than 400 beds) hospitals, with Carestream being the only vendor not deployed in one category—large hospitals.
Small hospitals accounted for more than one-third of respondents, medium-sized hospitals slightly less than one-third and large hospitals tallied one-fifth of participants.
Forty percent of respondents had recently made a cardiology IT purchase: more than half of the medium-sized hospitals, compared with about 34 percent of the smaller hospitals and 37 percent of the larger hospitals.
Those planning new purchases are fairly evenly split among the small and medium-sized hospitals at 25 percent each, while fewer than 20 percent of the large hospitals indicated plans for new buys.
Reasons for not planning to buy a cardiology IT solution include:
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The report, published in September, surveyed more than 300 U.S. hospitals about the status of their cardiovascular information systems (CVIS) and cardiology PACS.
The survey found that less than 20 percent of recent cardiology IT deals were part of a larger enterprise clinical/EHR decision. "This is interesting given the healthcare industry's focus on achieving meaningful use of EHR and the HITECH Act component of ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]," said Michael Lee, research director at CapSite.
However, in recognition of the momentum to meet meaningful use criteria, at least two-thirds of new purchases were made in 2009 and 2010, and one-quarter of respondents indicated they are planning to purchase a new cardiology IT system.
The top attributes of cardiology IT systems favored by respondents were ease of use (27 percent) and integration capabilities (22 percent). Other considerations, in descending order, were access capabilities (12 percent), dependability/reliability (11 percent), functionality (10 percent), cost (9 percent), support (5 percent) and reporting capabilities (4 percent).
Fewer hospitals will make their purchases within six months (9 percent) and beyond 18 months (13 percent). The middle ground is close, with 22 percent planning a purchase within six to 12 months and 18 percent buying within 13 to 18 months.
The vendors being considered by study participants are GE Healthcare (22 percent), Philips Healthcare (19 percent) McKesson (17 percent), Siemens (11 percent), Agfa HealthCare (7 percent), Lumedx (6 percent), Merge Healthcare (5 percent), Carestream Health (4 percent) and others (9 percent).
These numbers do not differ significantly from the current market share of participants: Philips (22 percent), GE (20 percent), McKesson (14 percent), Agfa and Siemens (10 percent), Lumedx (5 percent), Merge and Carestream (4 percent), Fujifilm Medical Systems (3 percent) and others (8 percent).
Vendor product deployment is almost evenly split among small (less than 200 beds), medium (between 200 and 400 beds) and large (more than 400 beds) hospitals, with Carestream being the only vendor not deployed in one category—large hospitals.
Small hospitals accounted for more than one-third of respondents, medium-sized hospitals slightly less than one-third and large hospitals tallied one-fifth of participants.
Forty percent of respondents had recently made a cardiology IT purchase: more than half of the medium-sized hospitals, compared with about 34 percent of the smaller hospitals and 37 percent of the larger hospitals.
Those planning new purchases are fairly evenly split among the small and medium-sized hospitals at 25 percent each, while fewer than 20 percent of the large hospitals indicated plans for new buys.
Reasons for not planning to buy a cardiology IT solution include:
- No issues with current solution: 42 percent;
- Recently purchased current solution: 24 percent;
- Budget issues: 14 percent;
- Planning to upgrade current solution: 7 percent;
- Other IT systems are higher priority: 5 percent;
- Still researching marketplace: 3 percent;
- Cardiac cases not primary business: 3 percent; and
- Use a shared system with another facility/department: 2 percent.
For more information, click here.