by
Diana Bradley, Staff Writer | March 19, 2012
From the March 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Across the industry and on a promotional level, OEMs are knocking down prices to levels never before seen, notes Ashish Dhammam, regional sales director for refurb company Soma Technology. But buying secondhand still remains a much cheaper option.
“In general, if you were to buy a new piece of equipment from us, you would save up to 60 percent — I’m talking list price savings,” he says.
Barritt notes that beyond cost, the big focus for most anesthesia device manufacturers is getting a complete solution in place for hospitals.
“Products that provide a total solution for anesthesia care, including integrated decision support, intelligent alarms, and enhanced monitoring and visualization systems are in most demand,” she explains.
AIMS: What’s driving the driver
Anesthesia information management systems, or AIMS, is the big talk in the sector today. The systems, which track vital information about anesthesia being delivered during surgery, are being increasingly recognized as a vital link in patient care. “They will help us by harnessing the computational power to better control care we deliver during surgery, much as advanced avionics systems make complex and safer aircraft possible,” says ASA president, Dr. Jerry Cohen.
This year, the AIMS market is predicted to skyrocket, growing by more than 50 percent. The growth can largely be attributed to U.S. legislation that requires hospitals to automate data collection in their anesthesia departments by 2015 as part of the implementation of electronic medical records, according to iData’s report.
AIMS are thought to help decrease malpractice claims by streamlining workflow. Yet, in a report last April, market research group KLAS found more optimism than actual adoption in the AIMS market. Between 2007 and 2010, the number of surgery departments using AIMS increased from 6 percent to 26 percent, with 63 percent of hospitals using only surgery systems stating they plan on purchasing an AIMS.
Vendors claiming the largest share of the AIMs market include Cerner, Draeger, GE, Philips and Picis, according to KLAS’ report.
Hospitals using AIMS designed for the perioperative market realized big savings. The average hospital saved $584,000 a year using such systems, and the hospital’s three-year investment of $1.3 million generated a positive ROI in 8 months, according to a 2008 white paper by financial research firm Hobson & Co.
For the anesthesia sector in particular, meaningful use requirements highlight the need for improved connectivity between the various devices in the patient care environment, including those in the OR, according to Risto Rossi, global anesthesia segment leader, premium life care solutions, for GE Healthcare’s Helsinki branch.
