Article Excerpt:
TWST: We would like to begin with a brief historical sketch of Aspyra, followed by a picture of things as they are now.Mr. Besbeck: We are a global provider of healthcare information technology, also known as HCIT. We generally serve healthcare providers by specializing in clinical and diagnostic management systems for hospitals, large clinics, orthopedic centers, imaging centers and reference laboratories. We recently brought together a broad portfolio of healthcare technologies through a merger of two companies. It involved Creative Computer Applications, a publicly traded company in business for many years that was focused on selling clinical information systems. The second was StorCOMM, a private company based in Jacksonville, Florida, that provided picture archive and communication systems, known as PACS. These handle images that are produced through diagnostic tests such as radiology, MRI and CT. Aspyra is integrating the companies and the product lines to provide a seamless suite of products that we will sell to the provider marketplace. We have a well- rounded platform of technologies targeting the information technology (IT) sector of a rapidly growing healthcare market that is expected to triple over the next 15 years to $10 trillion. The segmented US HCIT market alone is expected to reach $25 billion by 2009. Our key marketing objective is the 3,000 mid-sized 100-to-300 bed hospitals in the US, in addition to 2,500 imaging centers and 1,500 large multi-specialty clinics.
TWST: Would you discuss the integration of the two companies?
Mr. Besbeck: First of all, we worked more than a year to put together an
integration team to consolidate the management teams and the operations
of three facilities ' the former headquarters of Creative Computer here
in Calabasas, the US operations of StorCOMM based in Jacksonville, and
StorCOMM's UK operations located in West Sussex. So it's a case of
integration on a number of levels, including operational product
development, sales and marketing, business practices such as finance and
accounting, and purchasing. In addition, there is also a seamless
approach from a marketing standpoint and an identification of the
company and its products as a brand. All of that is continuing at the
present time. Some of it has been completed. We are rolling out
technology and the infrastructure to integrate all the finance,
accounting, purchasing, HR, and such facets. There is also a process to
obtain compliance for our quality systems with the FDA and ISO standards
internationally. So there's a lot of activity.
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