COVID-19 Reprioritizes Imaging Equipment Servicing Outlook

They found that as a result of the outbreak, the top modality needing more service support is mobile x-ray, primarily due to increased use for COVID-related procedures. The top three modalities needing less service support are nuclear medicine cameras, mammography, and MRI, mostly due to fewer studies being performed using these modalities during the survey time frame.

The report also points to a more strategic direction beyond "break-and-fix" that imaging departments will seek from their service providers. When asked to indicate which support services will be important to have in future service contracts, imaging departments looked for value-added remote and software-related services in addition to repair services, including a need for remote diagnostics, remote repair of software, cybersecurity services, software upgrades and updates for bug fixes. These services address a key department priority to reduce the mean time to repair imaging equipment.

“Virtually all U.S. hospitals have service contracts with at least one OEM for the postwarranty service of their diagnostic imaging equipment, while over half have service contracts with at least one third-party service organization,” concluded IMV Medical. “Hospitals are more likely to use full-service contracts with OEMs for CT, MRI, and x-ray mammography systems, but for general x-ray equipment, they are more likely to use either a third-party service organization or use shared service contracts.”

The exact timing and nature of a full recovery for imaging departments to return to normal from COVID-19 is yet to be determined. Sharp declines are being experience due to a reduction in related elective procedures and patient cancellations. Imaging departments are also experiencing reduced operating hours or days open, closures of imaging locations and services, and layoffs, furloughs, and hiring freezes of radiologic technologists.

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