Emageon Inc., Birmingham, Ala., [NASDAQ: EMAG], attributes its surge in revenue during the past year to its mantra to focus on a hospital's business needs when it comes to medical imaging and image management systems, explains Chuck Jett, CEO, president and chairman.
More than a mere picture archiving and communications system (PACS) company, Emageon "makes sure the entire chain — from the referring physician to the diagnostic physician — is well served inside the context of the hospital information system's environment and its associated EMR," he says.
The company's products collect, organize and maintain all modalities of medical imaging data, including the terabytes of space needed to store them, and manage the accompanying radiology reporting.
The company, #29 of the 2007 Healthcare Informatics Top 100 list, also garnered the top overall slot in the PACS Perception Report ratings released in April by KLAS Enterprises, Orem, Utah.
As more hospitals jockey to become the center of choice for procedures, having a streamlined system for image data exchange with referring physicians can result in a competitive edge, Jett adds; making things easier for referring physicians to add to revenue by more procedures and surgeries being performed at the hospital.
"One of the things we do better than most is to understand the business of healthcare and that changing environment," Jett says. "We make sure our customers' systems are well suited to the changes that are coming, instead of being reactionary after it happens."
Emageon's June 2007 release of RadSuite Express⢠and its partnership with Dell Corp., Round Rock, Texas, is expected to open up new opportunities in the smaller-hospital markets, Jett notes. Access to Dell's hardware footprint and its existing nationwide service network will allow Emageon to reach out to facilities that were a challenge previously, he explains.
"How do you sell effectively to a 50-bed hospital in Bozeman, Montana? How do you service them effectively?" he says. "That's a why we're so excited about the partnership with Dell. It's leveraging all the learning we've had from our biggest hospital clients and packaging the products in a way that is imminently affordable for 200-bed-and-below hospitals."
