Which CV X-ray Vendors Deliver on Service?

Aug. 29, 2008 - PRLog -- 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. Many healthcare provider organizations have expanded their cardiovascular (CV) and interventional radiology (IR) services, and other organizations plan on expanding their capacity in these areas in the near future.

A growing group of technologies are designed to assist healthcare professionals deliver care in cardiovascular disciplines; CT, MR, ultrasound, SPECT, and PET/CT, among others. Despite these many options, as KLAS monitors the performance of medical equipment vendors, providers constantly inquire about x-ray for cardiovascular and interventional radiology work.

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.

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.

Currently, few vendors service this market, yet 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.

KLAS interviewed 90 healthcare professionals about the experiences they are having with their CV/IR x-ray equipment and vendors.  Vendors included in the CV/IR research are GE, Philips, Siemens, and Toshiba.

About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors.  KLAS’ mission is to improve delivery, by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors.  Working together with executives from over 4500 hospitals and over 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics, which provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry.  KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, and medical equipment vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email marketing@KLASresearch.com, or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative.
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All KLAS data and reports are © 2008 KLAS Enterprises, LLC.  All rights reserved.

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KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare’s information technology (HIT) vendors. KLAS’ mission is to improve HIT delivery.