Borrowing a marketing ploy that's been used to sell PCs but not PACS networks, Siemens Medical Systems of Iselin, NJ, has introduced a program to protect its PACS customers from the costs of hardware and software obsolescence. The non-obsolescence program is designed to allow PACS customers to insure against obsolescence at a fixed price over the expected life of the products, while enabling users to maintain access to the company's latest technology, according to Siemens.
The Cleveland Clinic and the Children's Medical Center of Dallas have already signed up for the program, according to Siemens. The program provides two weeks of product engineering consulting per year, and includes a needs-and-workflow analysis for each customer to determine potential improvements in process and functionality that will enable expanded services, or a higher service volume.
The program is customized to meet the needs of each customer, according to Kulin Hemani, operations director of Siemens' Medical Information Systems and PACS division. Hemani said rapid changes in technology led to creation of the program, which helps ensure that customers do not make large capital investments only to find out a few months later that their equipment is outdated.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
January 18, 2000
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