March 17, 2020 — Dotmed/Healthcare Business News
By Tom Watson
Excerpt
Cardiac imaging is an active and growing area for clinical and technological innovations. While you can subdivide these technologies into large, highly complex market segments, the major cardiovascular solutions we will look at here are ultrasound (echocardiography), interventional fluoroscopic imaging (angiography), CT and MR.
I believe the transition of healthcare delivery from fee per procedure to a value-based model has likely suppressed activity and interest in many medical capital decisions. The ongoing merger and acquisition activities also make this time period somewhat of an anomaly for healthcare organizations. That said, the following reflects what our extensive network of healthcare organizations are doing relative to cardiac imaging.
Cardiovascular Ultrasound (Echocardiography)
Based on the quote volume sent to TractManager for analysis, there has been about a 20% increase in requests for cardiac and cardiovascular ultrasound solutions. The largest increase (about 12%) came in the premium market segment. I believe this suggests healthcare organizations are looking for high-end, advanced imaging solutions. Other areas showing growth were compact/portable solutions for point-of-care. Stable, yet significant was the specialty area of intra-cardiac echocardiography (ICE) and Transesophageal (TEE) solutions or options.
As we move further into 2020, look for artificial Intelligence (AI) to grow in the ultrasound space. Reliance on ultrasound will grow as a lower-cost, highly portable and quick access and validation for guidance and positioning in many areas of clinical cardiology and even non-cardiac therapeutics. We may also see expanded applications in ultrasound contrast solutions.
