Siemens Reshapes its Medical Technology Unit Industrial giant Siemens has reorganized its healthc

Siemens Reshapes its Medical Technology Unit

Industrial giant Siemens has reorganized its healthcare business to take advantage of different market segments and growth opportunities—particularly the convergence of imaging and therapy.

Effective immediately, the company’s Healthcare division will still consist of three units—Imaging and Therapy Systems, Clinical Products and Diagnostics. Sales and service will be bundled into one group.
Under the umbrella of the new unit, Munich, Germany-based Siemens intends to better leverage the synergies between the imaging equipment and therapy solutions. The CEO of the Imaging and Therapy Systems unit will be Bernd Montag, who currently heads the Imaging & IT group. The company’s imaging equipment offerings include computer tomographs, magnetic resonance imaging equipment, and PET systems. Therapy solutions include angiography systems, linear accelerators, particle therapy systems, and devices for minimally invasive procedures. These systems are already closely linked with imaging equipment, in particular in therapy planning.

The Clinical Products group will include X-ray and ultrasound equipment that until now has been run jointly with the large-scale medical device business. The market segment for these products has a different dynamic than the market for large-scale medical devices, company officials said. Besides innovative high-end-solutions, the development of cost efficient, less complex equipment that meets essential customer requirements will be a focus for the unit. Siemens officials plant to grow sales for these products, particularly in emerging economies. Clinical Products also will include the company’s components business. Norbert Gaus, who has been in charge of the ultrasound business, will be CEO of Clinical Products.

Diagnostics will continue to comprise the laboratory diagnostics business. This includes equipment for analyzing blood and other bodily fluids as well as the necessary reagents. Michael Reitermann, previously responsible for the healthcare business of Siemens in the United States, will follow Donal Quinn as CEO of the Diagnostics Division. Quinn is leaving the company for personal reasons.
Sales and service will be managed the company’s Customer Services arm. In addition, the business with hospital information systems will also become part of this unit, due to its highly regional focus. The CEO of the new Customer Solutions unit will be Tom Miller, who has been heading up the Workflow & Solutions Division.

Hermann Requardt, CEO of Siemens Healthcare, said the demands of the various customer groups in the healthcare market have changed over time. Increasingly, large hospitals and clinics are seeking to differentiate themselves through customized high-end solutions, and are experiencing a growing demand for therapy solutions. Smaller hospitals and physicians in private practice, especially in emerging economies with above-average growth, are looking for cost-efficient and less-complex equipment. The hearing aid business is being spun off within the company.

For fiscal 2009, Siemens’ healthcare holdings posted approximately $17 billion in sales.