Driven by an aging population in developed nations and rapid growth in developing nations, the global diagnostic imaging market is estimated to grow from $20.7 billion in 2010 to $26.6 billion by 2016, according to the market research firm MarketsandMarkets.

The global market for Vendor Neutral Archives (VNA) is estimated to have a global market of $163.6 million in 2013 and projected to reach $335.4 million by 2018, according to a MarketsandMarkets report published in October.

Due to legislative reform, demographic change and rising prosperity, demand for healthcare services is rising across the world, fueling the requirement for up-to-date medical equipment that plays an indispensable role in the provision of high quality healthcare. This is, however, exerting considerable financial strain on the European healthcare systems where a proportion of medical equipment is currently out-of-date and needs to be urgently replaced.

Healthcare spending in the U.S. will grow at an average annual rate of 5.8 percent from 2012 through 2022, which is 1.0 percentage point faster than projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth, according to an article published online ahead of print in Health Affairs.

Patients undergoing MRI exams on their knee are more likely to have a negative finding if the physician who referred them for imaging had a financial stake in the imaging equipment used, according to a study published online Sept. 17 in Radiology.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) today submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) opposing plans to calculate reimbursements using separate cost centers for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging that were included in the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and calendar year (CY 2014) rates proposed rule.

Today, a council debate over MRI and CT scans is taking place in Edmonton, Canada, that shows the stark difference between the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems.

The total number of providers participating in Medicare has steadily increased since 2007, and the percentage of office-based physicians accepting new Medicare patients is now slightly higher than the percentage accepting new privately insured patients, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.