From the January/February 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

When asked if the company had seen increased price sensitivity since the start of the pandemic, Curley noted that there was a rush in 2020 for very specific technology, such as mobiles, with a more recent shift to the value-based care areas. But the value emphasis has actually been in the works for about three years, prior to the pandemic, but is aligning well with the Valory launch. While the big centers mostly have the equipment they need, the smaller facilities are struggling to keep up, so in that regard “the answer is yes, but a qualified yes”. Regarding VBP and outcome-based criteria, Curley said that the total cost of ownership has been a key consideration with Valory, accounting for the hardware, service and remote support. It also spans patient satisfaction, with decreasing exam times meaning less time on the table and a quicker diagnosis.

First time right, more clinical value from existing technology
Annemarie Blotwijk, MRI Global Marketing Director for Philips, said that as imaging volumes continue to increase, there is limited time to provide feedback to new techs. So, Philips has developed the Radiology Smart Assistant, an AI-based solution to improve accuracy of X-ray image acquisition. This solution helps improve acquisition accuracy for upright chest X-ray exams through continual quality analysis and feedback about position accuracy, given at the point of image acquisition. The continuous feedback provides X-ray technologists with consistent, immediate visual feedback for every chest exam. It can help improving performance of well-educated X-ray technologists through positive reinforcement. Blotwijk summarized, “what we see is that there is a big need in hospitals for coaching guidance, better results, first time right. And based on that we have developed the Radiology Smart Assistant”.
In the same vein, the message from Konica Minolta at RSNA was about getting more information, more clinical value, from existing technology. Guillermo Sander, Director of Digital Imaging Innovation at Konica Minolta said that one of their innovations is dynamic imaging. This is a series of standard 2D X-ray images acquired at high speed and very low dose which can be played back as a loop, to provide body motion. In one example, this allows for an orthopedic doctor to analyze joints in movement in a weight bearing position. Sander noted that modalities like MRI have explicit spatial resolution, but they do not provide temporal resolution. What happens as you move your shoulder, your elbow, or when you breathe? In standard imaging the radiologist may see that the patient's lungs are at 70% typical capacity, but not if the right lung is working near full capacity and the other one is working on 60% capacity. Sander explained, “when you see the movement of both lungs working you can see that one is obstructed, so using the same X-ray machine we are getting much more clinical information that allows for better clinical decision-making before moving to another modality”.

January/February 2022 Magazine

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