Belgian Agfa bets on lease of equipment to reach SMEs
DCI
With the proposal of cutting the costs for small and medium-sized enterprises in the health area, specialized chains of the area seek new solutions. Representing half of the businesses of the company in Latin America, Agfa Healthcare do Brasil, controlled by the Belgian Agfa Gevaert group, has just launched the lease of data center and digital imaging management for the hospital and clinical sector, seeking to achieve customers who do not have the resources to carry out the services internally. By adopting the lease system, consisting on the outsourcing of storage and distribution of imaging diagnostic files, the company expects to grow 25% this year and it will increase its client portfolio.
Today, Agfa caters to hospitals such as the Syrian-Lebanese (Sírio-Libanês), Santa Catarina, Clinics Hospital (Hospital das Clínicas), the Portuguese Beneficence (Beneficência Portuguesa), Santa Casa, the Secretariat of Health of São Paulo. The first client to acquire the new rental service is a First-Aid Unit (UPA, in Portuguese) of Rio de Janeiro, and the service will be in force this month. With sales offices and representatives in more than 100 countries in the world, the company registered, in 2009, sales above 1.178 million Euros. In 2010, the brand earned, globally, 3 billion Euros, and, in the international context, Latin America represents 11% of the earnings.
Agfa Healthcare also designs, develops and delivers systems to capture, manage and process diagnostic images and clinical and administrative information for hospitals and clinics, as well as contrast solutions for medical effective imaging results. "The client who acquires the service does not pay for the solution, but for the examination managed by the system, at a cost of nearly US$ 2.00", explains Robson Miguel, IT sales manager of Agfa Brasil.
According to the Executive, services of the kind in Radiology on demand are still not offered professionally in Brazil, unlike it happens in Europe, especially in Belgium, where its headquarters is located. And those similar do not meet the market demand in full. "I don't know whether or not it will be a trend in Brazil, but we want to be pioneers in this type of service in the country. This concept of leasing of equipment on demand is still not practiced in Brazil in a structured, professional way. Europe already features the service, and the market there is more solid than it is here", says the Executive.
The strategy of providing the service in the country is supported by two pillars, the dissemination of the model of lease on demand and the catering to a market that lacks the cash to purchase assets for storage and scanning of images (x-rays, tomography, etc.). "We work in two fronts: the first is to develop a different service. Introduce the new concept of service on demand in the health area, mobilize the market for the arise of alternatives in the segment. The second is to allow the acquisition of the services by smaller companies", explains the Executive of Agfa.