Imaging medical device companies aren’t quite up to snuff compared with vendors that serve other medical specialties, according to “Brand Perceptions in the U.S. Medical Device Industry 2012,” a Millenium Research Group (MRG) report.

Radiologists report low levels of satisfaction, and complain about poor customer service, products that are difficult to use, disappointing relationships with sales representatives and inconsistent reliability, the researchers reported.

Radiology medical device companies earned satisfaction scores 6 percent lower than the market overall and 10 percent lower than orthopedic surgeons.

Compared with most other specialties, radiology uses products from fewer vendors. However, radiologists commonly switch among these three or four vendors, indicating a low level of brand loyalty, MRG noted.

“Relative to other medical specialties, radiologists were also slightly more dissatisfied with the extent of evidence-based research in support of the products they use. This could be a concern given that radiologists named supporting evidence as the second most important attribute affecting product choice, second only to product efficacy.”

There were a few high points for imaging vendors. Major vendors—GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare and Philips Healthcare—earned relatively high scores on evidence-based research.

Imaging vendors earned their highest marks for the breadth of their product portfolio and overall company images, according to MRG.

The report compares and contrasts overall satisfaction, brand advocacy and the strengths and weaknesses of major companies selling medical devices across ten different medical specialties: cardiac surgery, electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, neurosurgery, OB/GYN surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, radiology and spine surgery. It is based on a study of more than 800 physicians in the U.S.