From the November 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

Contributing to a “new normal” in capital buying, healthcare organizations now present as a more condensed buyer profile. Partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions (M&A) in the healthcare industry are impacting not only imaging, but the entire spectrum of medical diagnostic and therapeutic capital technology. In response, in Q1 of 2022 many imaging vendors implemented price increases to boost profitability and counter the hurdles they’ve faced in the prior two-plus years: the rising costs of goods, production, delivery, and support.

According to many customers, healthcare organization consolidation due to M&A activity has also affected vendors’ negotiation strategies. April 2022 reflected a clear decision by many vendors to increase prices. In fact, most quotes issued in March 2022 were valid for days or weeks, not months. There’s also evidence of increasing pressure on healthcare providers to make the right decisions about whether to make a new purchase, maintain existing technology, or upgrade rather than replace. As a result, the need for an efficient and well-implemented, integrated value analysis process is more important than ever today and going forward.


Overall, the buying patterns relative to specific technology and imaging solutions suggest importance is being placed on highly versatile, mainstream technologies that will provide excellent flexibility but also maximize return on investment (ROI) by providing core functionality. Vendors are still introducing new features and functionality and will continue to do so. However, our review of quotes suggests that it will take longer for new, leading-edge features or capabilities to be adopted and viewed as the mainstream standard of care as measured by clinical efficacy.

Finally, the M&A trend has put pressure on the internal coordination of technologies within healthcare enterprises — both in terms of capital purchases as well as capital equipment service support. As health systems grow in size and complexity, there is a significant need to evaluate existing solutions before making purchasing decisions, creating huge savings opportunities. To capitalize, organizations may need to reorganize and reallocate existing technology before buying another system.

Overall technology-specific customer interest by vendor and key market segments
Many of the following areas were addressed in 2022 HealthCareBusiness News articles contributed by symplr spend advisors. As a result, high-level reviews of the major imaging segments follow.

November 2022 Magazine

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