A Conversation with . . . Christian Renaudin

Capturing the voice of imaging administrators

Christian Renaudin is the managing partner and CEO of Davis, Calif.-based The MarkeTech Group (www.themarketechgroup.com), an international medical technology marketing consulting firm that combines medical knowledge and market research expertise to produce findings that allow its clients to make critical business decisions quickly and confidently. rt image asks Renaudin to tell us about ImagePro™, a panel made up of imaging managers.


rt image: Why did you create the ImagePro panel?

Christian Renaudin: We’ve been in the medical imaging industry for more than 10 years and, more recently, we noticed an increasing need for a more efficient way to gather the opinions of imaging directors – not just radiologists and physicians. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and those who sell equipment to the imaging industry need this type of information to better serve their customers. We thought that it was time to create a panel to make the process of collecting the opinions of imaging directors more cost effective.

Also, we wanted to facilitate communication between the imaging directors and the OEMs. ImagePro is an excellent interface to achieve that end.


image: I understand there’s been a dramatic shift in power between clinicians and administrators in medical imaging purchase decisions. Why do you think this shift occurred and what does it mean?

Renaudin: This shift occurred because the imaging industry has matured. Starting in the 1970s, we saw a lot of imaging innovation (CT, MRI, PET, etc.) from academic early adopters. In the 1990s, those technologies evolved into products designed for a much larger audience. Now, we are entering the cost containment era where products must not only provide returns to those who invest in them but should also enable cost savings down the clinical value chain.

During the growth era, clinicians made the key purchasing decisions and were concerned primarily with image quality and focused entirely on state-of-the-art for better outcomes and marketing differentiation with ordering clinicians. Purchasing power now falls into the hands of radiology administrators who need to balance the stated clinical benefit with business parameters. So service quality, price, product reliability, and the range of applications, to name a few, have received a lot more attention. Our response to this shift is ImagePro, created to capture the voice of radiology administrators.


image: What makes ImagePro unique?

Renaudin: First, ImagePro is a high-quality opt-in panel. We don’t admit members who are not in a position to make purchasing decisions or product selection. Second, ImagePro is calibrated to the marketplace. Modeled after the AC-Nielsen consumer panel, we ensured that the national radiology market is well represented in our panel. We checked size and geographic distribution so that those who use this panel can extrapolate their findings to the overall market.

Third, a very important aspect of ImagePro is the strong loyalty that we create with members as they gain and accrue many benefits from participating in the panel. For example, this is why we are able to claim that our 600 hospital ImagePro members represent an estimated 25 percent of the purchasing power in the hospital segment.


image: How are the panel members chosen?

Renaudin: We use very strict screening criteria that ensure that each member is qualified to join our panel. Our primary focus is the type of decision-making authority that the potential member exerts, and the type of institution and modality that their institution offers. After our members have met these criteria, they sign a contract by which they commit to a number of surveys per year.


image: What are their titles?

Renaudin: Their title varies a lot. Most members are directors of imaging or directors of radiology and report to the executive level. Many of them have authority over several hospital sites or satellite locations, such as imaging centers. Their titles can be manager or even supervisor, in a small institution, as long as they report to a CEO or a vice president of clinical services.


image: How does ImagePro help drive members’ business decisions?

Renaudin: ImagePro members are able to gain knowledge of current market trends by taking our surveys because the questions that are asked are very indicative of trends in the industry. In addition, members have access to information through our in-house members-only surveys: they can vote on a topic of interest and then we design a survey that captures this topic and release the results of the survey to our panel members.

Members will also be able to attend special educational series on topics voted on by the members themselves. Our hope is that, by participating in the panel, our members will gain information that will help them with their own business decisions.


image: By serving on the ImagePro panel, what do the members gain?

Renaudin: ImagePro members are really part of a very exclusive group that is very carefully selected. Not only do they enjoy the quality surveys that we create (many told us it helps them think better for their own business), but they also have access to proprietary information that they can’t find anywhere else. Also, members are financially rewarded for every survey they take and can redeem their accrued points for merchandise or educational materials. Last, but not least, we make sure that we direct them to only the studies that are relevant to them.


image: By using ImagePro’s panel, what does an OEM vendor gain?

Renaudin: OEM vendors can get access to the “minds” of imaging administrators in a very targeted and cost-effective way. Through ImagePro, OEM vendors can make fast changes in product roadmap, pricing, and other elements of the offer. This is invaluable because, by using ImagePro, an OEM can have actionable data that they can extrapolate to the market in less than a week.

In addition, they can use ImagePro for chat rooms, focus groups, and other qualitative research techniques that can be implemented very conveniently. ImagePro offers OEMs a significant advantage in terms of getting access to the appropriate individuals who are not always easy to find in an institution.


image: Any other comments?

Renaudin: Our focus is to make sure the members continue to enjoy and appreciate their affiliation with ImagePro and that we continue to strive for quality, as we believe that this industry greatly and urgently deserves data that can be trusted for both ends – those who provide care service and the OEM vendors.

– Jane Kollmer