Zooming in on PACS II

Bochum, 17 January 2012 – Number of customers: up. Revenue: up. Strategy: successfully implemented. Outlook for 2012: very positive. That is the VISUS fiscal year 2011 in a nutshell. “In Germany, we saw strong demand from all customer categories – hospitals, single practices, practice groups and screening units. We not only grew our customer base but we also extended and expanded cooperation with existing customers. The technical platform used by Teleradiology Network Ruhr plays a major role in our future-oriented growth strategy. Is has been in full operation since 1 January 2012 and is now regularly being used by the 35 members of the network. We were also able to increase both, revenue and number of new installations outside of Germany – despite the international financial crisis. Our partners throughout Europe and the OEM business for OR management solutions contributed immensely to this success“, summarizes Jörg Holstein, Managing Director at VISUS.

 

In demand: image management outside radiology
In Germany the demand from radiology environments remains strong. But particularly last year’s MEDICA has shown a clear trend towards image management outside radiology – termed PACS II. “In addition to PACS migrations, several large dentistry departments at university hospitals were equipped with our solutions. Thanks to our product philosophy – JiveX for radiology, full image management, mammography screening and teleradiology – we are positioned excellently and benefit from this trend“, says Guido Bötticher, Sales Director Germany. “Our customers confirm that our solutions are scalable, that they are easy to manage and that we offer good service.“ 

 

In 2012, VISUS will continue to grow its business in Germany. “But what is most important to us is that we continue to provide first-class service“, Bötticher emphasizes. This is the foundation for future PACS II installations and for further expanding market leadership in mammography screening. Another major objective is the implementation of new solutions such as 3D Volume Rendering, vessel tracking and image data registration with requantification.

 

International contender: PACS II
Internationally as well PACS II is playing an increasingly important role. Particularly in countries with high PACS coverage the focus is on image management outside radiology. Case in point: Maasstad Hospital in Rotterdam. “The 600-bed facility is fully digitized and paperless. JiveX is being used in all departments as Enterprise PACS. It is linked to more than 160 imaging devices and to the radiology PACS of a third party vendor. More than 200 000 examinations per year are being managed and archived with the help of JiveX and even legacy paper files are scanned and transferred to our product”, says Peter Rosiepen, Vice President International Sales and Business Development.

 
Integration in comprehensive image management solutions requires DICOM capabilities of medical technology devices, for example electrocardiograms (ECGs). “Our JiveX ECG Modality Gateway obviously meets an urgent need of hospitals and manufacturers. It ensures smooth integration and storage of vital data and offers specialized measurement and analysis tools”, explains Rosiepen. 

 

As far as the European strategy is concerned, in 2012 VISUS will focus on its successful JiveX Enterprise and on central archiving solutions. Moreover, Austria and Switzerland will be launching mammography screening programmes this year.

Characters: 3.522