The ‘Big 3’ – GE, Philips and Siemens – continue to enjoy provider loyalty

But other vendors and new innovations are shaking up the imaging market

OREM, Utah – Sept. 9, 2009 – While a third of healthcare providers plan to continue a freeze on all imaging equipment purchases in the midst of a tough economy, many more are once again looking to buy, with magnetic resonance (MR) equipment topping the list of planned purchases.

Modality buying decisions are the subject of a new report from KLAS, titled Diagnostic Imaging Equipment: Which Vendors are Positioned to Win? For the study, KLAS interviewed 147 healthcare provider organizations to find out which imaging vendors they’re considering in a variety of categories.

The report notes that providers most frequently mentioned MR systems as a planned purchase over the next 24 months; and Siemens and Toshiba are generating the most buzz in that market thanks to the success of their wide-bore MR equipment.

“Providers have gravitated to wide-bore MR systems for their high-quality imaging plus the increased comfort they offer claustrophobic and bariatric patients,” said Kirk Ising, KLAS research director for medical imaging and medical equipment and author of the new report. “Siemens and Toshiba have clearly set the pace in that arena, while GE and Philips have actually lost business because of their lack of wide-bore MR offerings.”

After MR, respondents most frequently mentioned purchase plans for ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), digital mammography, and then digital x-ray (DR).

In the CT market, GE maintains the lead in mindshare, with 68 percent of providers planning to include the vendor in their purchase decisions. The next most-considered vendor was Siemens, followed by Toshiba and Philips. Toshiba’s position in the CT market has been boosted by the introduction of its Aquilion ONE CT, which has gotten the attention of some research-heavy hospitals that typically disregarded Toshiba in the past.

Another intriguing market segment is digital x-ray. While GE, Siemens and Philips remain the top three vendors in provider mindshare in DR, Carestream is also turning heads with the introduction of its DRX-1 product, a cassette-sized wireless detector. “Many providers indicated they would consider Carestream in DR buying decisions because of the DRX-1,” Ising said.

Taken together, GE, Siemens and Philips garnered the most mentions from providers across the six market segments highlighted in Diagnostic Imaging Equipment: Which Vendors are Positioned to Win?, maintaining the “Big 3” of imaging equipment status that has earned all three companies significant loyalty among providers. Despite this strong position, however, the KLAS report also mentions that companies like Shimadzu and Toshiba, along with Carestream, FUJIFILM and Konica Minolta, have been attracting some clients away from the top vendors because of solid technology and outstanding service.

Vendors profiled in the new KLAS report include Agfa, Carestream, FUJIFILM, GE, Hitachi, Hologic, Konica Minolta, Philips, Siemens and Toshiba.

To learn more about the medical imaging equipment market, as well as healthcare provider perceptions about leading vendors, the report Diagnostic Imaging Equipment: Which Vendors are Positioned to Win? is available to healthcare providers online for a significant discount off the standard retail price. To purchase the full report, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com/reports.