Report: Shared service agreements and remote links helping to slash hospital costs
According to a report released on May 5 from healthcare market research consulting firm IMV, remote links to equipment service providers are helping hospitals address imaging equipment service costs. The report—which features data from March 2010—provides insights into the size, composition and trends in the U.S. market for hospital-based diagnostic imaging equipment service contracts for ten different modalities.
The Greenbelt, Md. - based firm noted that currently, approximately 84 percent of service contracts for hospital-based CT scanners cover remote diagnostics from the service provider, and the service provider is able to repair equipment software remotely in two-thirds of such service contracts. In addition, hospitals are trying to negotiate as much training for their in-house biomed staff as possible at the time of the imaging equipment purchase.
“Radiology administrators and biomed managers agree that the expanded use of remote diagnostics and software repair are helping them limit the high cost of visits by outside service engineers,” said Mary C. Patton, director of market research at IMV. “At the same time, this trend necessitates greater involvement from hospital IT departments to enable permissions and security checks for service vendors to access hospital networks.”
The firm also reported that on-site coverage contracted with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) still represent over 60 percent of all imaging equipment service agreements, despite available alternatives. In addition, the markets for service contracts covering general x-ray and ultrasound equipment are much less concentrated than those for other imaging modalities, including CT and MRI equipment.
The report, entitled 2010 Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Service Arrangements: The Hospital Executive’s Perspective, involved 401 radiology and biomedical engineering managers from a bed-size adjusted sample of hospitals throughout the U.S.
The Greenbelt, Md. - based firm noted that currently, approximately 84 percent of service contracts for hospital-based CT scanners cover remote diagnostics from the service provider, and the service provider is able to repair equipment software remotely in two-thirds of such service contracts. In addition, hospitals are trying to negotiate as much training for their in-house biomed staff as possible at the time of the imaging equipment purchase.
“Radiology administrators and biomed managers agree that the expanded use of remote diagnostics and software repair are helping them limit the high cost of visits by outside service engineers,” said Mary C. Patton, director of market research at IMV. “At the same time, this trend necessitates greater involvement from hospital IT departments to enable permissions and security checks for service vendors to access hospital networks.”
The firm also reported that on-site coverage contracted with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) still represent over 60 percent of all imaging equipment service agreements, despite available alternatives. In addition, the markets for service contracts covering general x-ray and ultrasound equipment are much less concentrated than those for other imaging modalities, including CT and MRI equipment.
The report, entitled 2010 Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Service Arrangements: The Hospital Executive’s Perspective, involved 401 radiology and biomedical engineering managers from a bed-size adjusted sample of hospitals throughout the U.S.