Premier:
Price hikes hit most products, services
Few medical product prices are expected to stay steady from now until
December 2001, but the majority of device increases should be only a
few percentage points higher, according to a new inflation index.
Group purchasing giant Premier Inc., San Diego, has issued a new list
of inflationary indices, covering dozens of products and services. Under
capital equipment, the steepest increase is for electrosurgical generators
at 7% to 10%, Premier said, citing research and development costs for
new technology as the main drivers. Patient-monitoring systems in acute
care centers are estimated to rise 3.5% due to cost of supplies. Intravenous
pumps could see a 2.5% climb due to materials, labor and freight costs.
On the other end of the inflation spectrum, cardiac rhythm products
such as implantable pacemakers and defibrillators should not increase
and may even drop 5% because of a flat market. Yet, Premier advised
material managers to expect a price resurgence for defibrillators, driven
by new technology.
Lab,
vascular product rises
In the laboratory, a 4.5% rise is predicted for both conventional and
dry-imaging film, according to manufacturer Agfa Corp., Ridgefield Park,
NJ, which pointed to more expensive raw materials as the cause.
Higher
costs in manufacturing and raw materials could bring a 3% jump in blood/specimen
collection equipment, as well as increases of up to 3.5% for coagulation
instruments, reagents, controls and disposables.
Most medical/surgical items are expected to climb a few percentage points,
but the most significant are vascular compression devices (4%), foot
pumps (4%) and a limited number of thermal paper suppliers who are driving
up chart paper 5% to 6%, according to Premier.
HPN
Click
here for Premier's complete
forecast.
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