Healthcare intelligence and market analytics from
ECRI Institute that empower everyone
Computed Tomography Systems
Change is a constant in healthcare. Our mantras these days include volume to value, do more with less, and customer satisfaction, to name a few.
We know that products that offer us the best value, i.e., the optimal relationship of cost and quality, will be the ones medical equipment purchasers
will choose. Achieving these goals in mature markets like CT scanning systems will demand reliability, longevity, cost and key features. The good
news is, a mature market gives leverage to the purchaser. And there are more and better tools than ever before to help supply chain leaders make
informed buying decisions. ECRI Institute’s SELECTplus™ User Experience Network is one of many such tools.
In a recent SELECTplus User Experience Network survey, nearly 300 CT users who reported direct experience with one or more of 17
systems on criteria including performance, ease of use, image quality, dose control functionality, service, and vendor support. The survey shows
satisfaction rankings by vendor and model, feature-by-feature comparisons, member interest (market share), and average quoted prices. The
results of the survey confirmed that we have a mature market, approaching commodity status. Among the 4 leading vendors – GE, Philips,
Siemens, and Toshiba – the scores were close.
“When it comes to basic CT scanning systems,” states Jeffrey C. Lerner, PhD, president and chief executive officer, ECRI Institute, “our survey
respondents find surprisingly few differences among competing brands and models. This makes purchase price a more important factor in
choosing a system than might have been expected.”
Analytics and Research to Support Decision Making
ECRI Institute analysts, engineers, and physicists aggregated cost, configuration, service contract, and performance data based on the survey
results and our research, deriving the following analytics and key takeaways.
u Safety
High radiation doses generated during computed
tomography can increase a patient’s risk of cancer, as
discussed in ECRI Institute’s 2014 Top 10 Health Technology
Hazards report. With new, advanced dose reduction
technologies, manufacturers are achieving dose savings
of 20% to 80%. When selecting CT scanning systems,
ECRI Institute advises its hospitals to ask about the following:
o Iterative reconstruction – enables significant
dose reduction
o Dynamic collimators – eliminate over-beaming
o DICOM Dose SR – enables dose tracking
AVERAGE LIST AND QUOTED PRICES
CT Scanners and Service Contracts*
$1.8M
$1.6M
$1.4M
$1.2M
$1.0M
$800K
$600K
$400K
$200K
$0
o NEMA XR-25, XR-26 – helps avoid user errors
u Key
Players: GE, Philips,
Siemens, and Toshiba
These 4 vendors dominate the
marketplace. Here are some key price
metrics for 64 slice scanners.
Avg. List Price
GE Optima
CT660
Philips
Ingenuity Core
Siemens
Somatom
Definition
AS 64
Toshiba
Aquilion
PRIME 80
$1,769,245
$1,270,135
$1,445,214
$991,086
Avg. Quoted Price
$839,996
$685,084
$824,785
$662,889
Avg. Annual Service
$100,671
$101,295
$112,617
$106,030
*Market data charts are based solely on price points submitted to ECRI Institute in a 12-month period by
SELECTplus members. Average prices are current as of July 2013 and may not be accurate at a future date.
©2013 ECRI Institute. www.ecri.org.
and Reliability
Service Response Time
SERVICE RESPONSE TIME
Average User Rating by CT Vendor
u Uptime
5
If your CT scanner is down, you are not
generating revenue and you risk poor
customer satisfaction, both of which affect
your bottom line. Response time, training,
and preventive maintenance are key markers
for vendor support and are all close for each
vendor. What does the vendor offer for remote
monitoring and diagnostics that could avoid
downtime during clinical use?
4.4
4.2
4.3
4.4
GE
Philips
Siemens
Toshiba
0
Source: ECRI Institute SELECTplus User Experience Newtork, 5/2013.
u Feature
Matching –
Little to Differentiate
While manufacturers often push features
and benefits, they now must demonstrate
value in the form of higher reliability,
lower cost, or better outcomes. There is
no data in our survey results that show
differential outcomes related to CT systems.
u Upgrade
or Replace
New features, particularly in the area of
dose reduction, are important – look at
the costs of replacing versus upgrading.
Depending on age, once your upgrade
costs pushes 50% of the cost of a new
system, replacement makes sense.
FEATURE-TO-FEATURE COMPARISON
Model
Slices
Detector Coverage, mm
Bore Size, cm
Generator Power, kW
Imaging Workstation
Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring
Dose Reduction Software
Iterative Reconstruction Technology
GE
Philips
Optima CT
660
Ingenuity
Core
64
40
70
72
syngo CT
Vitrea
SmartScore
4.0
64
40
70
105
Extended
Brilliance
HeartbeatCS
syngo Calcium
Scoring
OptiDose
DoseRight
CAREDose
ASIR
iDose
SAFIRE
SURE Cardio
Scoring
SURE Expose
3D
AIDR 3D
VolumeShare
Siemens
Somatom
Definition
AS 64
64
29
78
80 or 100
Toshiba
Aquilion
PRIME 80
80
40
78
72
Source: ECRI Institute SELECTplus User Experience Newtork, 5/2013.
tech
Your Checklist for
CT Scanner Acquisition
– Dose reduction is critical. Get explanations
üSafety
that take the mystery out of dose reduction software.
– Price is king in this mature market. Push the
üCost
vendors.
– Uptime commitments without assurances
üReliability
are empty. Penalties don’t solve problems. Get
SELECTplus, the nation’s leading
healthcare technology procurement advisory
service, assists hospitals and health systems
worldwide with the safe, cost-effective
acquisition of capital medical equipment
and health information technologies.
For more information,
contact us at jmyers@ecri.org or
call (610) 825-6000, ext. 5287.
commitments on how uptime will be kept as close to
100% as possible.
and Support – Negotiate on long term
üService
service commitments that include upgrades.
(repair or replace) – Look at age, dose reduction
üRoR
capabilities and current reliability and differential cost to
find the best solution.
©2013 ECRI Institute. www.ecri.org.