OEMS cater to large hospitals and imaging centers. As a result, small doctors' offices, clinics and imaging centers are sometimes not the priority of the major manufacturers. That space leaves room for independent distributors -- like Rick Haynes of Ideal Medical Source -- to grow and prosper.

Founded in 1998, Ideal Medical Source is a factory-authorized distributor of Philips Ultrasound equipment in Florida which is happy to serve Philips' non-core markets. His customers include doctors' offices, small hospitals, clinics, and mobile services companies. Haynes also offers digital holter monitors, EKG and PC-based stress EGG machines.

In addition to selling new equipment, about ten percent of Haynes' business consists of trade-ins; Haynes buys old equipment -- of all brands -- and sells it to customers outside Florida. "DOTmed has been perfect for allowing us to sell used equipment without putting much energy into it. We have found customers throughout the world who we would otherwise never have found," he said.

As for industry observations, Haynes says that prices have fallen in the ultrasound market due to a surplus of inventory. He notes that this condition is temporary; he expects to see prices rise in the near future as the market naturally adjusts to supply and demand.

As an offshoot of Ideal Medical Source, Haynes recently developed an ultrasound rental company called Spoonbill Capital. After much research, he realized that hospitals often exhaust their budget for capital equipment with the purchase of a CT and/or MRI machine. These hospitals are left with no choice but to rent, rather than buy, an ultrasound machine and account for it as an operational expense. Spoonbill Capital offers customized ultrasound medical equipment rental programs to serve these hospitals.

Both businesses have been so successful because of Haynes' ability to fill the needs of the industry and respond to its ever-changing market.

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