Jan 05

Customized CT & MRI Sales & Service Spells Success for Genesis Medical Imaging
Q & A by Julie E. Williamson

For more information about Genesis Medical Imaging
call 847-961-6200 or visit
www.genesismedicalimaging.com

When General Electric Medical Systems acquired InnoServ Technologies in 1998 — the nation’s only independent service company at that time — Robert Dakessian and Ron Ragan saw a golden opportunity they simply couldn’t pass up. They decided to build on their extensive experience in the CT and MR business, which dated back to early 1980s, and establish a specialized, full-service company to fill the void in the marketplace.

The result was Huntley, IL-based Genesis Medical Imaging — the one-stop CT and MR solution that has been based on a customized service approach, rather than a one-size-fits-all formula. GMI buys, sells, refurbishes and services CT and MRI scanners; leases and sells complete mobile systems; maintains a multi-million dollar parts inventory; sells and installs replacement CT tubes; provides 24/7 service when necessary; and provide complete magnet services to protect customers’ MRI investments. And because GMI has such vast experience in building, testing, servicing and installing systems, customers can count on quality and customer service excellence.

As an example of GMI’s commitment, every part in stock is fully tested before being placed on a shelf, every scanner sold is staged, tested, adjusted, calibrated, cleaned and overhauled prior to shipping, and every system serviced in the field is maintained to meet or exceed original equipment manufacturer specifications.

Here Genesis Medical Imaging’s president, Robert Dakessian, sheds light on the secret to his company’s success, the value of offering specialized, yet flexible, service, and why a well-planned and executed infrastructure is vital for efficiently meeting customers’ evolving demands.

Q: What are some of the distinguishing
characteristics that separate GMI from the
competition?

A: First of all, we are a company that specializes only in CTs and MRs—we are not a company that tries to do everything for everyone. Because we have a very narrow product line and can focus on what we do best, we can also be very efficient.

When it comes to high-end imaging equipment like CTs and MRs, most hospitals don’t have too many redundancies. What they have is what they need, and they can’t afford to have their scanners go down for an extended period of time. By only dealing with CTs and MRs, we recognize that need and have built an infrastructure that enables us to provide service effectively and efficiently. Another thing that sets us apart is the fact that we have not grown the company just for the sake of growing. We have grown at a pace in which we can hire and acquire top-notch people.

Q: How has GMI’s facility helped you tackle the growing needs of your customers?

A: Our facility is 40,000 square feet and that is where we operate all our business. Again, the key was to build an infrastructure to supported our particular modality. Most of the profits we realize are reinvested back into the company, so we are able to continue to grow that infrastructure.

Q: What specific products and services does GMI provide?

A: We are a one-stop solution for all CT and MRI needs. Genesis Medical Imaging offers nationwide CT and MRI service agreements, refurbished CT and MRI sales; system upgrades; parts; CT tubes; and mobile system sales, rentals and storage. GMI’s subsidiary company, Genesis Magnet Services, offers even more capabilities for MRI systems, including in-house and emergency repair services for all cryo-refrigeration systems; liquid helium and nitrogen sales and filling; cryogenic siphon and construction; magnet cooldowns and recommissioning; weekend vacuum pumpdowns, leak testing and certified vessel repairs; magnet ramping, shimming and field mapping; and cold magnet storage and maintenance.

We have a national base of engineers in major key cities to help meet customer needs. Our customers vary from imaging centers and hospitals to asset management companies and original equipment manufacturers. OEMs come to us because they may pick up an asset management account that happens to have a competitor’s brand of CT or MR. They may not have the efficiency to service those scanners, so they will seek our services. One of the things that manufacturers look for in outsourcing their services is to make sure the [independent service company] has the same culture in terms of how service is delivered and to make sure it has the infrastructure to support the equipment. That is important because, after all, they are representing us to their customers.

Q: What does that GMI’s infrastructure encompass?

A: A great deal is involved. We have the infrastructure in place to monitor CTs and MRs remotely. We have a remote system that monitors the magnet’s cryo-refrigeration system. We also have a management infrastructure and a technical support infrastructure, and engineers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have a parts support infrastructure so we can support every part for every scanner we have under a service contract. In some cases, the manufacturers buy spare parts from us when their own stock is depleted. In order to support our parts needs, we have created a repair facility where we repair our own MRI coils and service our own CT high voltage systems, including high voltage tanks, inverters and controllers. We are very self-sufficient.

We have five different divisions within our company and each division addresses each of our infrastructure needs. Those five divisions are: equipment sales and refurbishment; parts sales, which includes every part for every CT and MR we service, including coil repair and high voltage repairs; a mobile rentals division where we own and operate approximately 20 CTs and MRs; and a magnet cryo refrigeration service division where we handle everything that is magnet-related to an MRI, including coldheads, compressors and cryofills.

It’s important to point out that we are the only company outside of the manufacturer that can perform Sumitomo coldhead refurbishment. This is something we started in 2004 and are very proud of. By being in the game, we were able to lower the cost in the marketplace by about 50%. On the parts side, we are also an authorized Dunlee dealer and installer. Dunlee uses our services to deliver and install their CT tubes. Customers may know they have the option to buy a tube from Dunlee to replace their costly OEM tube, but they may not know they have an option on who is going to install it. Through our agreement with Dunlee, the customer can buy the Dunlee tube and also have us install it. This will save them nearly 70% over what they would pay an OEM without compromising quality or tube life.

Q: How does GMI stay abreast of all the technological advancements in the marketplace?

A: By focusing only on CTs and MRs, we don’t have to stretch ourselves too thin. But because we are always in the growth mode, as we pick up newer scanners — from single-slice to multi-slice and now even 64 slices – we have to hire people. Currently, we have about 50 employees around the country. We forecasted our growth for 2005 to be around 80-100 employees by year’s end. When we hire, we bring in someone who is already trained on new technology and then cross-train the rest of the engineers on that product. We have an ongoing education and training program that is offered here to keep our engineers up-to-date on the latest technology. Right now, we have 16-slice CTs under contract and as the 64-slice scanners come out of warranty, we’ll be picking those up, as well. We have a number of customers that have already signed agreements with us so as their warranties expire, their scanners will be coming onto our program.

Q: Are there any exciting plans for GMI in 2005?

A: We have a new plan for 2005 that we will be announcing very soon. One thing that is certain is that as we move forward, our drive will be to grow each of the five silos we have created over the last six years (service, equipment sales, parts, mobile rentals and magnet maintenance). Our business is based on delivering integrative solutions to meet customers’ unique needs. We don’t simply offer a menu of services and ask our customers to choose. We customize the service for that customer’s unique needs. We’ve been so successful at doing that with CT and MR that we’re looking forward to implementing that philosophy into another area
of business.