VNA and PACS Markets Expected to Soar through 2018

With health care providers pushing for more interoperability between Medical Imaging systems, the benefits of Vendor Neutral Archives (VNA) have been mainstreamed into Radiology departments. This technology allows for long-term, centralized storage of scans and studies from disparate PACS systems from various vendors.

PACS connect with different imaging equipment within the medical facility, such as MRI or X-ray machines. A recent report from Research and Markets detailed the estimated global market value of VNAs and PACS over the next four years. The organization’s results show that the market, which was valued at $165.3 million in 2013, is expected to hit $335.4 million by 2018.

Breaking down the markets
For VNAs, the market is segmented into three different areas: procurement model, VNA suppliers and delivery mode. Procurement deals with how customers put their VNAs into action within their own facilities. In this section of the market, multi-departmental VNAs had the highest global adoption rate in 2013 and have a 41 percent share of the overall market. Delivery mode pertains to the form of VNA that imaging specialists use in their practice. The largest share of this section belongs to on-premise VNAs due to the better data security these products offer to customers, specifically hospitals. In 2013, these solutions were valued at $140.3 million.

For its part, the PACS market is divided between departmental and enterprise PACS, with departmental PACS having the largest market share of 90.8 percent in 2013. This category can be broken down even further, to include cardiology, radiology and other specific diagnostic imaging departments. Within this segment, radiology boasts a 63 percent share of the market due to the increasing number of procedures being conducted in the field.

The push for VNAs
Driving facilities to provide more patient-centered care, VNAs have helped providers bring patient health information back together. Before their advent, patients would have to be transferred from one department to another because PACS systems may not have supported data from a different PACS supplier. With the development of VNAs, pertinent data can be accessed from one main location and be transferred across multiple departments.

A big driving force behind the introduction of VNAs was the relatively new implementation of health information exchange. Sharing sensitive health information between practices can lead to better patient outcomes as physicians are able to see comprehensive medical histories, which can cut down on costly repeated procedures. Having VNAs in place allows providers to send medical images to other facilities with ease, resulting in improved care coordination across practices. Because of this, they can play an essential part in increasing the quality of the American healthcare system with better diagnoses and treatment plans for patients.

Still challenges to face
Despite the inherent advantages of VNA, the market still faces some difficult factors that could interfere with its growth. Mainly, providers unfamiliar with the technology may misinterpret its functionality and be hesitant to adopt it. Additionally, keeping up the ever-changing standards involved with digital imaging and including scans with Electronic Medical Records might cause some obstacles in the market growth.

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Ronny Bachrach

Marketing Director at Viztek LLC

Responsible for all marketing activities including, press, advertising, trade show coordination, website management, dealer and customer communications.