If the field of radiology has made rapid strides, the contribution of Carestream Health, which has been actively involved for more than 100 years in the evolution of X-ray imaging technology, has to be noted in giving a major thrust to the radiology domain.
Driven by the vision of providing innovative solutions to customers, Carestream Health has been at the forefront of providing a broad portfolio of conventional and digital X-ray systems as well as medical IT systems for healthcare professional worldwide. Ever since Carestream Health set foot into the Indian market in 1991, the company has made significant contributions towards the development of medical imaging market by introducing innovative and state-of-the-art products and solutions.
Mirna Bassil, Marketing Manager, Emerging Markets—Middle East, Africa, Greater Russia, Turkey, India, French Overseas, Carestream Health speaks to Express Healthcare about the company’s perspective on the Indian radiology market and its plans for India. Associated with Carestream Health for more than a decade, Bassil has in-depth knowledge of the Indian radiology market and its customers. Excerpts:
How important is the Indian radiology market for Carestream? How has Carestream Health been faring in this market?
| Mirna Bassil |
India is one of the key markets for us. Ever since we forayed into the Indian market in 1991 we have always strived to make our latest technologies promptly available to the Indian customers. We have introduced a slew of innovative X-ray imaging solutions in the Indian market and have developed a strong and loyal customer base.
With which products did you enter the Indian market?
When we entered the market, medical imaging was almost synonymous with analog x-ray system and film. X-ray imaging was reliant on x-ray films being developed in dark rooms with the help of chemicals. That was the starting point. We were the first to introduce laser imaging technology for X-ray film printing, which was a step towards the digital technology in imaging. With the laser film technology, customers can do away with dark room and hassle of developing film with chemicals. So it’s just laser printing. This is one of our innovations that we brought to the industry. More recently, we’re proud to have also been pioneers in digital imaging technology, with our launch of the world’s first cassette-sized wireless digital radiography detector.
You have been associated with the Indian market for a long time now. What can you tell us about your experience with this market?
Yes, my association with Carestream Health is a decade old and since the last five years, I support India for various marketing initiatives.
India’s radiology professionals are very keen on image quality and are very knowledgeable in their field. We are very proud to have had the chance over the years to be close to the Indian radiology professionals cooperating with them on bringing to India the latest technologies, which help them improve both image quality and patient care. We are especially proud of our educational programmes and activities, which we continue to implement in India in cooperation with India’s most known luminaries in the field.
When you compare the Indian market with the rest of the world, where would you rank the Indian radiology market?
Indian radiologists in general are very technology oriented and very knowledgeable. The Indian radiology market is ready to adopt new innovations and is advancing rapidly.
Indian experts believe that innovation does not happen in India, it is adopted from the West. So, what is your perspective on this line of thought?
I feel is that the response to new technologies and products is quiet encouraging among the customers in India. Indian radiologists are open to learning and adopting new technologies. They regularly attend trade shows and congresses in the world in order to remain up-to-date on the latest technology advancements. Many Indian radiologists make it a point to attend RSNA, which is the biggest radiology show in the world. At RSNA, Indian radiologists are seen keen on understanding the new developments in the field. So, my perspective is that Indian radiologists are always looking forward to learning new things that they want to embrace and adopt.
Coming back to Carestream’s operations in India, what marketing strategies did you adopt when you entered the Indian market in 1991? How did you make your presence felt?
Our effort is to stay as close as possible to the customers. We have direct presence in India with our own sales and service teams covering all the states of India. We have also a network of over 150 channel partners across India serving thousands of customers. With the passage of time, we are adding more feet on the ground. We bring all newly introduced X-ray imaging products to India without any time lag. Customer’s success and satisfaction are the centre of our focus always.
How do you focus on territories and products?
We try to be as close as possible to the end users, be it through personal connections or by way of our channel partners. We try to be present at various shows and conferences. We are well known in India for our various educational activities that we conduct for our customers to contribute towards the growth of the industry. We had an educational magazine that we are revamping this year. Also, we regularly conduct Digital Radiography seminars across India to share advanced radiology imaging techniques and solutions with our customers as well as organise training programs for radiographers.
Indian hospitals are price sensitive and often talk about budget constraint when they have to update technology. Is it difficult to market your DR products in such a market?
At Carestream, we understand the requirement of the customer and based on this, we develop our products. Going for a full room DR may be a costly proposition for many Indian customers, which is why we came up with a retrofit solution, Carestream DRX1 System. Keeping existing set up with the help of the retrofit solution, one can upgrade to DR at just one third the cost of full room DR. Afterwards, the customer can step by step upgrade to full-room DR as and when he wishes to. Through this DRX technology, we offer flexibility of transforming the existing analogue X-ray room into a DR within a day.
Do you think that Indian hospitals and imaging centers are really prepared to embrace digital radiology?
Yes, they are. We can gauge their interest when we meet them at radiology events in India, the US and Europe, which they attend to understand the significance and usage of latest technologies. That many hospitals are now going film-less also reflects the fact that doctors are keen on adopting new technologies. Our latest digital imaging solutions have already been adopted by many sites in India and we are very excited by the response we have had so far for our digital solutions.
You must have come down to India with a special purpose. So is there a new project that you are working on?
We always have projects in the pipeline and it’s always a pleasure for me to be here. We have a new product that we want to launch soon. It’s our DR mobile system, part of the DRX family. This is a revolutionary DR mobile system, which is why we call it the DRX Revolution. It’s different from what we know of mobile systems and really raises the bar up with respect to what a customer should expect from a DR mobile system. We are positive that the Indian radiologists would appreciate it as much as our other products.
Some PPP models have been created to make radiology and imaging available to the rural sector. Is Carestream willing to explore such an opportunity?
Yes, we are very keen on PPPs. Carestream Health has always focused on rural development in many parts of the world, most recently in China and Saudi Arabia. We have a slew of mobile solutions, one of them being our CR mobile, the CR-Vita system. We are capable of linking rural diagnostic centres with main city hospitals. We are running successful projects with our CR and PACS solutions in Saudi Arabia and China. And hopefully, we shall implement something similar in India as well when and as needed, because we have the experience.
What are your plans for the Indian radiology market?
As India is one of our key markets and Indian radiologists are technology-savvy, we will continue to introduce new technologies and products in India, which answer our customers’ needs for image quality, productivity and better patient care.