How top health systems forecast medical imaging equipment replacement — defining end-of-life, setting capital horizons and avoiding costly emergency buys.
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Any healthcare organization is only as strong as the individuals that comprise its workforce, and in the medical imaging department, that truism is particularly pronounced.
In the healthcare space, issues that lack attention may require the mechanisms of advocacy to be addressed.
For as much as medical imaging technology remains a cornerstone of future healthcare lines of service and treatment planning, decision-makers don’t always contemplate the longevity of the facilities constructed to house the devices that will provide those services.
In the do-more-with-less era of healthcare, sustainability has transitioned from an aspirational public relations tool into a financial strategy.
With study volumes continuing to climb – along with wait times in patient scheduling and staffing shortfalls that don’t show signs of self-correction – health systems are seeking more and different ways to increase access to medical imaging services without dramatically elevating costs.
As diagnostic imaging study volumes spiral and patient wait times for service increase, technology vendors and market-watchers alike all seem to be solving for the same, underlying issue: efficiency. With shortfalls in access to skilled, experienced professionals in the technologist space, and telehealth options increasing in speed and quality, equipment manufacturers believe the answer lies where most of the rest of the economy believes it is to be found as well: artificial intelligence (AI) powered solutions.
For years, interventional radiology (IR) was “one of medicine’s best-kept secrets,” said Kris McVey, vice president of angiography at Siemens Healthineers; “more of a procedure service in the hospital basement.”
At any healthcare facility, a capital project represents a sizeable budget, a business opportunity and a diversity of stakeholder interests. When that project involves the installation, relocation, or expansion of medical imaging equipment, it can become even more complex.
Just as the advancement of medical imaging technologies has evolved nearly every aspect of healthcare delivery in the modern era what it previously could achieve, so too has the refinement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered solutions compounded those gains, paving the way for new growth in the systems that allow healthcare practitioners access to the inner workings of the body.
