Obsolete medical imaging equipment used in Spain's public and private hospitals has decreased by 25%, according to a new Health Technology Profile report from the Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies, Fenin.
Credited to the Spanish government's High Technology Investment Plan (INVEAT) through the Ministry of Health, the reduction is congruent with the recommendations of international organizations, according to the Spanish Society of Medical Radiology (SERAM). In 2021, Spain's Ministry of Health took Fenin's Health Technology Profile report as one of the main references to design and implement the INVEAT Plan.
INVEAT has made it possible to renew and/or increase nearly 850 “high-tech” equipment in national public hospitals between 2021 and 2023, according to Fenin. The impact is analyzed in Fenin's new report. Among the highlights: New equipment in public and private hospitals rose to 42%, although 33% still exceed the recommended limit product age threshold of 10 years; 25% are between 5 and 10 years old, Fenin and SERAM reported.
A specific example noted is that in 2021, more than half (52%) of life support equipment was over 10 years old. Now, three years later, it is at 22%. The group of CT equipment also presents significant improvements in the past three years: from 35% of equipment considered obsolete to 20%.
"Spain is making positive progress in reducing the level of obsolescence of its healthcare technology park. Now, a national strategy is necessary that provides continuity to the process of renewing the technological equipment of national public hospitals to guarantee that the useful life of the park is maintained in accordance with the recommendations of international organizations," SERAM said in a statement.
SERAM President Dr. Milagros Otero García added that the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of the Spanish healthcare system have been improved. "The overall balance indicates that those technologies analyzed in this report that have been part of INVEAT show a very significant improvement after the execution of this plan," Otero García said.
Since 2009, Fenin has periodically collected and analyzed data on the level of obsolescence of public and private healthcare technological equipment in Spain. The last of these reports, published in December 2021, warned of the still high number of equipment installed in hospitals that exceeded the maximum recommended useful life (between 10 and 12 years) in the vast majority of technological families.
