DOTmed Industry Sector Report: CR vs. DR

by Keith Loria, Reporter | April 15, 2009

Burkhart sees some hospitals wrestling with the idea postponing their buying as they wait out the economic crisis.

"We're seeing a lot of hospitals converting their entire X-ray operation over to DR. With economic troubles, a dilemma for administrators is it's expensive to do but they can get their money back in a year or year and a half. There's so much benefit from operation efficiency, there's a chance to do more with less, and probably the best place to put your money. Those who want to create as much efficiency, there is probably not a better investment in medial technology than to go from manual process to a more automated process. We have studies that show exams decreased from 12 to 15 minutes to 2 to 3 minutes. That's a dramatic impact."

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Down the Road

Both CR and DR have come a long way since their inceptions, and its expected that they will continue to make advancements quickly.

"If you think about the opportunities with the digital image and the technology we harnessed with digital imaging, the future is wide open," says Widmann. "I always advise customers that DR is a very strong value proposition just based on going filmless and improvements to workflow. Beyond that, what a customer should really look at is the future of digital and how the system can be leveraged. Are they buying systems that will have capabilities to do what they want in the future?"

A gander at the digital radiography enhancements and offerings at RSNA this past November show that most of the major players in the field are ready to continue the trend. Many of the companies were debuting game-changing technologies, such as wireless digital detectors designed to increase the flexibility of digital studies and enhancements for full-field digital mammography and hardware modifications that make the units more bariatric-friendly.

New lightweight designs are also contributing to the new era of portable DR systems. Whether it is an adjustable cord for room-to-room installations or wireless, these recent introductions attest to the fact that DR is moving toward portability.

"That's what's most exciting about the imaging business, watching what's coming down the pipeline and watching the technology really advance further," says Maier.