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Cardiovascular/Interventional Radiology X-ray

Cardiovascular disease is the cause of almost 36 percent of all deaths in recent years, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). This makes cardiovascular disease the leading cause of death in America today.

These figures show the compelling reasons why many healthcare provider organizations have expanded their cardiovascular (CV) and interventional radiology (IR) services and why many organizations plan on expanding their capacity in these areas in the near future.

As providers consider investing precious resources in x-ray equipment for cath labs and angiography suites, a number of questions are raised. Instead of purchasing separate equipment for a dedicated cath lab or IR room, can we purchase a multipurpose suite and be clinically effective for both CV and IR in the same room? Can investment in this technology expand our business? With only a few vendors in this market, what are the upsides and downsides of our choices?

Because healthcare organizations are trying to do more with less, KLAS focused this research on multipurpose product lines capable of both cath procedures and angiography. Employing a single, multipurpose room that can be scheduled for varying procedures throughout the day makes more clinical and fiscal sense instead of spending precious resources on multiple dedicated cath labs and interventional suites that may only be scheduled a few hours each day. A multipurpose suite may also serve as a flexible overflow room when dedicated modalities are overscheduled.

What factors are impacting this market? At present, only three major vendors are in the CV/IR x-ray market, but Toshiba is beginning to make headway. Unlike the three vendors in the main body of this research, Toshiba’s medical division focuses strictly on equipment. GE, Philips, and Siemens have extensive software offerings. Yet Toshiba’s CV/IR x-ray product line, the Infinix-i, offers many of the same configurations found in larger product offerings; dual plane, floor mount, ceiling mount, and so forth.

What influences vendor selection? Providers mentioned Prior Relationship, Functionality/Ease of Use, and Image Quality as the top three factors in deciding which vendor to select, respectively. The following illustration charts provider reasons about why a vendor was or was not selected.

Which vendors deliver on service? This question is paramount in the minds of every healthcare provider professional involved in a vendor relationship. The CV/IR x-ray market is no different, and service may be even more important given the clinically sensitive nature of the procedures performed in this market segment as well as the potential financial losses incurred due to inoperative equipment.

Measurable differences exist in client satisfaction across these vendors in varying areas of vendor performance. In some instances, the products worked extremely well as an angiography suite, but not nearly as well as a cath lab. For others, there were imaging issues, product quality issues, or service issues. In general, providers who shared their experiences during the course of this research believed that the investment in a multipurpose lab was a sensible decision that has added a unique flexibility and expanded service capabilities. However, this does not mean that the experiences have been without obstacles.

Products qualifying for inclusion in the research are GE Innova 3100, Philips Allura Xper FD20, and Siemens Artis zee Angio. Early findings were also included for Toshiba Infinix-i Vascular.

Vendor Performance Research Tools:

• Log in to search the KLAS Database
• Access sample report, read more about the 2008 Cardiovascular/Interventional Radiology X-ray research, or purchase the report