A new study from Millennium Research Group (MRG), which specializes in market intelligence on medical technology, finds that the competitive landscape of the U.S. diagnostic imaging equipment servicing market is evolving as imaging facilities seek to cut costs.

The report, titled "U.S. Markets for Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Servicing 2010," shows that competitors in the market range from smaller service providers, which concentrate on servicing for just one modality, to larger independent service organizations (ISO) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

The diagnostic imaging equipment servicing market is extremely fragmented, the study finds, with large-scale vendors such as GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare and Siemens Healthcare holding a dominant share of the market. In addition to selling multiple imaging modalities, these larger vendors are able to provide servicing for the equipment manufactured by themselves and by other companies. OEM vendors have a strong brand and customers are more confident in the OEM's ability to service and repair their scanners.

But ISOs such as Unisyn Medical technologies, Genesis Medical Imaging, Platinum Medical Imaging and JDI Solutions can be as much as 30 percent cheaper than an OEM and position themselves as being more flexible to meet  customers' needs.

"The ability for facilities to acquire equipment and services from the same organization is an attractive proposition for hospitals because they frequently prefer the convenience of dealing with as few vendors as possible," says Ravindra Sharma, manager of Imaging and Health Care IT at MRG. "There is, however, an increasing pressure on radiology departments to minimize costs as reimbursement cuts squeeze profits and budgets are very tight. Consequently, ISOs will increase their market share in the U.S. over the next few years."

The MRG study indicates that the servicing market will witness further consolidation as bigger ISOs seek to grow through acquisitions and achieve more rationalized parts, inventories and economies of scale. Minimizing downtime of imaging scanners is vital to smooth functioning of any radiology department; downtime also translates into lost revenue.

To minimize downtime, service providers need to have a rationalized inventory of parts that balances both inventory holding costs and ensures customer satisfaction. Acquisitions are one way of increasing a service provider's parts inventory. Additionally, strategic acquisitions allow a service provider to quickly build its capabilities in modalities it has not served traditionally.

The report provides information on annual service contracts and parts revenues for computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and general radiography systems. Find in depth analysis of the competitive scenario and five year growth forecasts for each market at MRG.net.