Now that the buzz has faded from last year’s RSNA, the tax returns are filed (or extended) and spring has arrived (again), it’s an opportune time for a quick look at some of the current trends, drivers and the overall state of the medical imaging industry.

Healthy Today
“Healthy” is the most widely used adjective to describe every sector of today’s medical imaging marketplace. The latest imaging technologies from RSNA materialize overnight in the neighborhood hospitals, ready to diagnose or rule out diseases with ever greater precision and speed, while providing this information into the hands (or PDA) of your trusted physician.

Procedure volume continues to grow (some at double-digit rates), networks are being installed and connected everywhere, and manufacturers are selling services to accompany their products. Keeping up with the latest has become today’s challenge — if you’re not changing, you’re probably falling behind the rest of the medical imaging community.

Imaging is Everywhere
The first descriptor of medical imaging today is you don’t have far to go to find a place for an x-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound or nuclear exam. A significant portion of the growth in medical imaging markets during the past 10 years has occurred outside of the radiology department, as imaging technology migrated down the hall to surgery, emergency rooms, ICUs and almost every hospital-based specialty. Imaging centers popped up like spring-time crocuses on street corners all over the U.S., and office-based physicians acquired imaging assets funded by their own checkbooks.

Medical imaging product/market analysis today requires both hospital and non-hospital strategies, which significantly impacts manufacturers of both equipment and supplies. This leads to significant decisions on product plans, sales channels and service strategies as the end-user market has broadened so much that traditional market segments have become fragmented, requiring many companies to adopt a multi-faceted strategy. It seems that every major OEM now has a plan for using alternate sales/service channels. If you haven’t checked out the status of the medical imaging dealer/distributor market channel lately, you may be missing an opportunity to improve your business — substantially.

Consolidation
Consolidation among the major manufacturers of imaging equipment was overdue — with these deals completed, and integration plans underway, they all are hard at work on their major tasks — growth. The success of GE, Siemens, Philips and Toshiba are now, more than ever, tied to their ability to grow in both revenue and earnings. GE is pushing ahead in both hospital IT and surgery markets, Siemens also is focused on hospital IT, while Philips continues to digest it’s heavy meal of acquisitions (ATL, ADAC, Marconi and Agilent) amidst a move to a new U.S. headquarters in Seattle.

Offsetting the concentration of equipment manufacturers, GPOs and buying groups are more cohesive and capable of delivering the sales volume and negotiated prices sought by both parties. The route to every mainstream imaging market must pass the toll-booth of the GPO channel, or else take the side-road that leads only to the limited, early-adopter marketplace.

New brand names also have appeared in the imaging world, with the likes of Microsoft, Intel, Dell, IBM, Sun and Oracle joining the world of imaging buyers and budgets.

Forecast note: I’m expecting databases to play a role of growing importance over the next 3 to 5 years as networks and electronic patient records provide access to data that have been previously locked up in file folders. Structured reporting is likely to play a key role in this future, much as voice recognition enabled the automation of transcription.

The Radiologist
The king of imaging still wears clothes, though the stripes are changing. Part of his or her role today is imaging consultant, as his or her advice is heavily in demand for roll-out of imaging assets both inside and outside of the hospital. Hospitals are spreading their wings into both offsite and wellness centers, no longer leaving this world to the entrepreneur. Major imaging assets are scattered throughout the hospital, with the initial review of images by a non-radiologist. The simple fact is there are not enough radiologists in the U.S. to go around, and increasing productivity is an essential goal of every medical practice today, even more so for the imaging specialist. Technologies at work here include CAD (oh, there it is), voice recognition (I’ll take my coffee black, please), networks (work from home in your PJs) and specialized image processing (wow, what an image!). The last big challenge is eliminating analog x-ray (film-based acquisition).

Imaging has Limits
Finally, one of the most recent developments occurring in both the medical and public domain is a recognition of the present limits of today’s imaging science. The headlines for the past year have inundated everyone involved in breast cancer with the discussions of the limitations of mammography. While this has been a painful period for many, I think some good will come from it, especially for patients. I’m expecting that many of the alternative breast cancer imaging technologies will now receive a more concentrated evaluation. This provides ultrasound, MRI, nuclear, optical, electrical impedance and laser technologies with fresh wind — now let’s see if they can help diagnose the more challenging cases.

Doug Orr, president of J&M Group (Ridgefield, Conn.), consults with medical device companies in strategy and business development for emerging growth markets, notably radiology and cardiology. Comments and suggestions can be sent to dforr@aol.com.