Synapse sees Europe installs, Fuji CR software gets facelift

Jun 17, 2004

Fujifilm Medical Systems USA has signed a number of multisite Synapse PACS contracts in Europe, according to Stamford, CT-based Fuji.

The firm has seen its flagship PACS product picked up by Bamberg Hospital for two of its facilities Klinikum Bamberg and the Nervenklinik (neurological hospital) Bamberg located in Bamberg, Germany. Medisch Spectrum Twente, a non-university hospital in Twente, Netherlands, will use Synapse at each of its five healthcare facilities, which together conduct 300,000 exams a year, Fuji said.

Further south, both Azienda Policlinico and Azienda Unita Sanitaria Locale Modena, in Modena, Italy, have also purchased Synapse. The institutions, with a combined total of 10 healthcare facilities, generate more than 500,000 exams per year, the firm said.

Fuji also said it is positioning the company for Australasia, where its recent acquisition of Hanimex Pty, a Sydney, Australia-based distributor of Fuji's products for the past 50 years, was finalized. As a result of the Hanimex acquisition, Fuji said it anticipates further adoption of its medical imaging products, including Synapse, in Australia and New Zealand.

In the U.S., the firm has introduced a variety of pricing models to extend the reach of its Synapse product. Fuji is introducing a volume-based site license model that allows its customers unlimited use of the Synapse application regardless of the number of servers, workstations, and modalities that may be in use. The pricing model is available to both new and existing customers, the company said.

The vendor is also addressing its attention to the smaller-sized infrastructure market, which it identifies as facilities conducting fewer than 45,000 radiological studies a year. A new Single Step to Digital (SSD) turnkey solution offers three individual purchase packages combining Synapse, Fuji's CR product, FCR, and its DryPix imagers. Options include the purchase of just Synapse; Synapse with Fuji’s XG5000 and DryPix 5000; or Synapse with the SmartCR and DryPix 3000, the vendor said.

The company recently launched its IT CAP – information technology control and predictability product. A shared-risk financial solution requires no initial capital outlay, and offers the low financing rates, Fuji said. With IT CAP, facilities can obtain a full Synapse system and use a fixed cost-per-study, which is determined by the exam volume, study size, and projected five-year growth, according to the firm.

Finally, the vendor will soon release a new user interface for its CR line, Flex UI. The software allows users to custom-build screens with the icons representing the functions that they use most often. They will also have the flexibility to customize patient information fields, allowing additional patient data to be provided within the patient file. The software will be capable of running on a variety of hardware platforms, such as PDAs or tablet PCs, Fuji said.

By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
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