Hwang was named the company's chief technology officer. SonoSite began its corporate life with control over potentially valuable technology but with no marketable product.
Management believed, however, that the company could achieve financial viability once it opened a new market within the medical equipment industry. The company's survival, as was the case with most industry pioneers, depended on its ability not only to deliver a product to market but also on its success in convincing its potential customer base that the new technology was worth the investment.
From its perspective, SonoSite's management was confident that healthcare providers would see the advantages of a portable, point-of-care ultrasound device. The size and complexity of traditional ultrasound systems generally forced physicians to refer patients to an imaging center, such as a hospital's radiology department, where a trained sonographer performed the examination. In contrast, SonoSite's technology promised ultrasound devices weighing roughly six pounds, far less than the pound devices found in imaging centers.
In the years ahead, SonoSite's most difficult task would be convincing the healthcare industry that its portable devices were superior to the existing products on the market. The process of preaching the advantages of a portable ultrasound device to the healthcare industry actively began not long after SonoSite's formation.
In May , the company received pre-market clearance from the U. The following month, SonoSite forged a U. Through this agreement, the foundation was laid for the distribution of the SonoSite system to private physicians' offices. In January , the company opened up another distribution channel by signing an agreement with another PSS World Medical subsidiary, Diagnostic Imaging.
Through the agreement with Diagnostic Imaging, a distribution channel was opened to market the SonoSite system to hospitals, imaging centers, and radiologists. In March , the company received another pre-market clearance for an improved version of the SonoSite system. The FDA's approval covered ten clinical applications for the commercial version of SonoSite's handheld device, including obstetrical, gynecology, abdominal, and cardiovascular imaging.
In September , SonoSite began shipping the SonoSite system worldwide, marking the company's maturation into a genuine going enterprise. Improvements in the SonoSite system followed, incorporating features that were offered in next-generation product lines, such as the SonoSite PLUS, which debuted in April Sales of SonoSite's devices were sluggish, however, falling short of the company's expectations.
At the same time, SonoSite's losses mounted, forcing management to re-address the way in which it conducted its business. Belief in the technology had not waned, but the way in which the company promoted its products and broadcast the superiority of its technology had begun to become a topic of debate.
SonoSite's financial problems, in the eyes of Goodwin, did not stem from technological issues but from the efficacy of the company's sales and marketing efforts. Goodwin's noted success in sales helped SonoSite begin to improve its financial position. In late and early , the company started to assume far greater responsibility in its marketing efforts by shifting away from its reliance on third-party distributors and assembling a direct sales network in its place.
By doing so, the company gained greater control over its approach to potential customers in the healthcare industry. The advantages of SonoSite's innovative technology could thereby be conveyed with greater persuasiveness than could be expected from third-party distributors, whose interests ran beyond focusing exclusively on marketing the SonoSite brand name. The adoption of a direct sales model was credited with sparking SonoSite's financial growth.
By the end of , the company employed 50 direct sales representatives in the United States and 27 clinical application specialists. Overseas, the company continued to rely on third-party distributors in some areas, but direct sales operations had been established in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain. As the new sales and marketing approach was put into place, the company's financial status improved.
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July 21, Print. Back to List. Home About About. Page Category:. Why Sonosite? Design Innovation Each Sonosite solution is inspired, informed, and improved by thousands of hours working side-by-side with clinicians, physicians, and professionals on the front lines of medicine. History Our products are designed in partnership with point-of-care clinicians, together we have made bringing ultrasound to any patient, anywhere, at any time a possibility. Global Health Program We provide ultrasound machines to humanitarian efforts and global medical missions in developing and underserved countries around the world through our SoundCaring program.
Leadership Team Read more about our visionary Board of Directors and Executive leaders, each of whom has an extensive background in healthcare. Careers At Sonosite, you can build your future and work with people who are passionate about changing the way medicine is practiced and how research is conducted. Fujifilm VisualSonics VisualSonics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonosite, is the undisputed world leader in real-time, in vivo, high-resolution, micro-imaging systems.
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