By Michael J. Cannavo
CHICAGO - Anyone who feels the American Dream doesn’t exist simply needs to come to the RSNA for a day. Nearly two-thirds of the 670 vendors exhibiting at this year’s show showed PACS products or services, a dramatic rise from last year where “only” every other vendor had PACS. What’s amazing is that of 400 or so vendors with PACS products or services, only about a dozen can be considered “majors.” The rest are looking at the hill and chugging along saying “I think I can, I think I can” as they face challenges in being accepted by a market that defines comfort as a factor of corporate size rather than product functionality.
Over the past decade I’ve seen so many companies with great products and ideas come and go that I can barely recall many of them by the end of the show, let alone by next year. The ratio is at least 15:1 of those whose dreams go up in flames vs. those that survive, yet thankfully there are the eMeds and the ALI Technologies out there to give hope to other Davids who choose to challenge GE, Agfa, Siemens, and other PACS Goliaths.
eMed has been an especially bittersweet story, having survived not one but two IPOs that were pulled in the 11th hour (due largely to market conditions), yet still found sufficient financing that allowed them to not just survive but actually thrive in the cash-intensive PACS market.
Adequate financing has been the single biggest obstacle to companies surviving in PACS, yet eMed’s $22 million round of private placement in September allowed them to not only compete against the likes of GE, but even taunt the big boys as well. The “Great Wall of eMed” video screen at RSNA presents rolling messages about their products and services and personalized messages to their customers – and even a congratulatory note to GE Medical Systems president Jeff Immelt on being named to take over Jack Welch’s job as head of GE worldwide.
The “no guts, no glory” approach to directed and often times bold marketing defines the spirit of many vendors, yet few have either the capital or knowledge to make a go of it a market which requires both.
ALI is another success story in a world where independents find the going rough, although OEM partner Siemens Medical Systems’ recent purchase of Acuson has to weigh heavily on the company, especially since Acuson’s KinetDx and ALI’s UltraPACS ultrasound mini-PACS products directly compete. Still, the company continues to succeed, winning sales and displaying its wares in booths that often rival their larger brethren in both size and scope.
There are many vendors this year that won’t be here next year. At least 50 vendors that showed at RSNA ’99 didn’t make it to RSNA 2000, yet 100 others stepped in to fill their space, with others anxiously waiting in the wings. So far this show I’ve seen 11 new vendors in the computed radiography market, 17 new digital radiography players, 24 archive providers, and over 50 independent PACS and teleradiography systems and/or component vendors. The names may change, the products evolve, yet the spirit of the independents is what really defines the RSNA.
Tomorrow: The RSNA 2000 PACSman awards. Don’t miss it.
By Michael J. Cannavo
AuntMinnie.com contributing writer
November 29, 2000
Mr. Cannavo is president of Image Management Consultants, a PACS consulting firm.
CHICAGO - Anyone who feels the American Dream doesn’t exist simply needs to come to the RSNA for a day. Nearly two-thirds of the 670 vendors exhibiting at this year’s show showed PACS products or services, a dramatic rise from last year where “only” every other vendor had PACS. What’s amazing is that of 400 or so vendors with PACS products or services, only about a dozen can be considered “majors.” The rest are looking at the hill and chugging along saying “I think I can, I think I can” as they face challenges in being accepted by a market that defines comfort as a factor of corporate size rather than product functionality.
Over the past decade I’ve seen so many companies with great products and ideas come and go that I can barely recall many of them by the end of the show, let alone by next year. The ratio is at least 15:1 of those whose dreams go up in flames vs. those that survive, yet thankfully there are the eMeds and the ALI Technologies out there to give hope to other Davids who choose to challenge GE, Agfa, Siemens, and other PACS Goliaths.
eMed has been an especially bittersweet story, having survived not one but two IPOs that were pulled in the 11th hour (due largely to market conditions), yet still found sufficient financing that allowed them to not just survive but actually thrive in the cash-intensive PACS market.
Adequate financing has been the single biggest obstacle to companies surviving in PACS, yet eMed’s $22 million round of private placement in September allowed them to not only compete against the likes of GE, but even taunt the big boys as well. The “Great Wall of eMed” video screen at RSNA presents rolling messages about their products and services and personalized messages to their customers – and even a congratulatory note to GE Medical Systems president Jeff Immelt on being named to take over Jack Welch’s job as head of GE worldwide.
The “no guts, no glory” approach to directed and often times bold marketing defines the spirit of many vendors, yet few have either the capital or knowledge to make a go of it a market which requires both.
ALI is another success story in a world where independents find the going rough, although OEM partner Siemens Medical Systems’ recent purchase of Acuson has to weigh heavily on the company, especially since Acuson’s KinetDx and ALI’s UltraPACS ultrasound mini-PACS products directly compete. Still, the company continues to succeed, winning sales and displaying its wares in booths that often rival their larger brethren in both size and scope.
There are many vendors this year that won’t be here next year. At least 50 vendors that showed at RSNA ’99 didn’t make it to RSNA 2000, yet 100 others stepped in to fill their space, with others anxiously waiting in the wings. So far this show I’ve seen 11 new vendors in the computed radiography market, 17 new digital radiography players, 24 archive providers, and over 50 independent PACS and teleradiography systems and/or component vendors. The names may change, the products evolve, yet the spirit of the independents is what really defines the RSNA.
Tomorrow: The RSNA 2000 PACSman awards. Don’t miss it.
By Michael J. Cannavo
AuntMinnie.com contributing writer
November 29, 2000
Mr. Cannavo is president of Image Management Consultants, a PACS consulting firm.
Copyright © 2000 AuntMinnie.com
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