Medical Systems

John M. Trani,
President and Chief
Executive Officer,
GE Medical Systems

In anticipation of the current U.S. downturn, we have greatly expanded our global distribution and are developing new products to provide a healthy revenue stream in the years ahead. Our operations in Japan and the Far East had excellent increases in volume and share. In Europe, we are continuing a major thrust into Eastern European countries while strengthening our position in Western Europe.

Meanwhile, in the United States, services are being expanded to offer our customers a true "one-stop shopping" resource. An excellent example is our agreement with Columbia/HCA, the nation's largest multi-hospital system, to manage all of its diagnostic imaging equipment service, regardless of the manufacturer.

Continued aggressive investment, despite the U.S. downturn, has positioned us well. In 1995, we introduced more new products than ever before at the industry's major trade exhibition. As a measure of this renewal strategy, three quarters of 1996's orders and sales will be generated from offerings introduced in just the past two years. Ultrasound, for example, enjoyed an excellent year, with strong growth in orders and sales for products such as the recently introduced LOGIQ^(TM) series.

Recent changes in our product portfolio have given us strong new entries in our key imaging modalities. The new Signa® Contour^(TM) 0.5 Tesla magnetic resonance system is a truly global product that provides users a cost-effective path to higher mid-field system performance. The new HiSpeed^(TM) CT/i system features interactive operation to speed patient procedures and help providers become more efficient and productive. In x-ray, the new Advantx^(TM) Legacy^(TM) digital R&F system combines the accuracy and convenience of user-intuitive controls with the ability to easily send diagnostic images to clinicians across town or across oceans via a computer network. Our leadership mammography offering was expanded with two new products, the Senographe® 700T^(TM) and 800T^(TM) systems. The new Millennium^(TM) MPS and MPR single-detector imaging systems gave our nuclear medicine offering a competitive boost.

GE's innovative InSite^(TM) remote service monitoring network continues to gain strong customer acceptance by making service support independent of time and distance. For instance, a user of GE imaging equipment in Brazil can immediately reach an InSite engineer in Paris should a problem occur in the middle of the night. Over 10,000 GE imaging systems in 48 nations are currently on-line, a 25% increase from the previous year.

As a globally integrated business, GE Medical Systems knows how to quickly share its technology and expertise with providers around the world, especially through our customer education and training network. This responsiveness and dedication to customer satisfaction has made us a global leader and a valued player in the delivery of quality health care.