Despite reimbursement cuts the diagnostic imaging market to grow at 5% over next five years: MRG

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, although the overall diagnostic imaging market has been limited by reimbursement cuts and poor economic conditions, the next five years will see unit growth of approximately 5%.

“The passing of new health care reforms in 2010 has, however, alleviated much of the uneasiness experienced in 2009 and will result in increased units being purchased in 2011”

Questions about reimbursement for imaging procedures intensified in 2008, and fears were realized in 2009 when President Bush proposed additional reimbursement cuts to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As a result, uncertainty escalated concerning health care reforms. As of 2009, the Obama administration was examining various methods of reducing health care costs, such as lowering payments to specialists or bundling payments to hospitals for treating conditions rather than the number of procedures performed. Consequently, many health care facilities were hesitant to spend money on new diagnostic imaging systems, resulting in a dip in sales in 2009.

"The passing of new health care reforms in 2010 has, however, alleviated much of the uneasiness experienced in 2009 and will result in increased units being purchased in 2011," says Isuru Silva, Analyst at MRG. "The health care reforms will also involve the spending upward of billions toward the provision of health care for approximately 32 million uninsured US citizens. This major change will not come into effect until 2014; however, rising growth rates are anticipated to occur as early as 2013 as facilities prepare for a future increase in procedure volumes, which are currently experiencing a decline that will continue until 2013. This is most notably expected to fuel unit sales growth in the CT and MRI system markets, where growth would be otherwise stable or slowing over the next five years."

MRG's US Markets for Diagnostic Imaging Systems 2011 report provides critical insight into emerging trends that will fuel product adoption and market growth for diagnostic imaging systems such as ultrasound systems, MRI systems, X-ray systems, CT systems, and nuclear medicine systems. Additionally, the report provides a comprehensive breakdown of procedure volumes, unit sales, average selling prices, and revenues by system type. This report includes five-year forecasts, up-to-date market shares, and in-depth qualitative insights.