Monday, May 03, 2010

Some Additions And Corrections

This blog has received more hits today than any other in its five year history.  I guess there is some significant interest in the demise of AMICAS.

I've received a great deal of additional information as well.  Some of this I have been asked not to publish, as it would reveal the identity of the sender, and so you won't be seeing it here.  Bide your time, it will all come out in the end.

One reader informs us of changes in the structure as well as the physical locations of Merge, changed as of yesterday.  His/her information is incomplete, but you will get the idea:

  • Restructured to functionality-based, so there are no longer divisions (Merge Fusion, Merge OEM & Merge CAD are now just Merge)
    • Nancy Koenig is now VP Sales (direct)
    • Toni Skokovich (formerly VP Marketing(?) for Merge OEM) is now VP Channel Sales
    • Antonia Wells (former president of Merge OEM) is now Sr. VP R&D
    • someone from Amicas/Emageon is now VP Service.  (A good decision, because they did this right, and Merge had no clue.)
    • VP Operations, Finance, ... Unknown
  • Most offices closing:
    • AMICAS offices:
      • Hartland (Milwaukee suburb) leased office (Camtronix -> Emageon -> AMICAS -> Merge) closed (I think)
      • Hartland (Milwaukee suburb) owned office (Camtronix -> Emageon -> AMICAS (R&D) -> Merge) stays open
      • Boston (AMICAS HQ) closed
      • Daytona Beach (AMICAS Cust Svc + Emageon R&D) stays open
      • [Birmingham (Emageon) already closed 2009]
      • [Winter Park, FL (Emageon) already closed 2009 -> employees transferred to Daytona Beach]
      • [Madison (Emageon) closed earlier (2006?)]
      • Ottawa (VMI Medical -> Camtronix -> Emageon -> AMICAS -> Merge) – stays open
    • Merge offices
      • Milwaukee (Former Merge HQ) closed
      • Cleveland (Merge Fusion R&D) closed
      • Seattle (Confirma/Merge CAD) closed - This is certainly a surprise!
      • Raleigh (Merge eTrials) not sure.  I think that this operation DOES remain a separate division.
      • Washington (eko) not sure if this office even existed.  The technology was acquired, but I'm not sure if any people/facilities were included.
      • Mississauga (Toronto suburb) stays open
      • [Toronto (eFilm) already closed in 2005]
My friend continues:
"In conclusion, there appear to be 3 development centers remaining open.  Toronto, Hartland and Daytona Beach.  Some (maybe even all?) people are being offered the chance to relocate, but I'm not sure what personality type would relocate from Seattle (or Boston) to Milwaukee.  The Daytona Beach office no longer has any R&D, though it may have been gone from there for a while already.  The Washington office is gone.  Also Cedara's old Shanghai office is still open.
R&D will have one senior VP R&D with 4 VPs reporting to her to cover the R&D operation which is split between Toronto and Hartland.  All 5 of those VPs are in Toronto, so the center of control is clear.  However, I've heard that the Confirma employees (or at least some of them) have been offered jobs in Hartland, rather than Toronto (paperwork is easier I suppose).  Apparently the regulatory person at Confirma becomes VP regulatory, and will move.
Still it seems that offering to move people from the coast (Seattle, Boston, Daytona Beach, Washington, Birmingham) to Hartland (or even Toronto) is not an offer that most people would take.
Oh, by the way. . . the ties are orange and will be provided by the company.  The suits must be blue or at least dark.  However, suits and ties are required only when meeting with customers."
That sounds much better.  My sources managed to smuggle out a photo of the new Merge orange tie:

Perhaps I can include this in my logo store.  

More to come, I'm sure.  

4 comments :

Anonymous said...

The vaunted Amicas PACS never really made any money. Amicas' stock was selling for $1.40 prior to the Emageon transaction. Amicas earned basically nothing in 2008, nothing in 2007, lost money in 2006, in 2005, in 2004, etc. Amicas never really grew its revenues over a period of years. Let's face it: Amicas may have had a solid suite of products and great developers, but it wasn't a good business. It was basically a public and employee service operation.

Anyone who was an Amicas stockholder throughout much of the 2000's remembers just how painful an experience that was.

So, how did Amicas, a proven money loser and stock laggard, suddenly become the Apple of PACS? Easy: blind luck.

Amicas was the beneficiary of the collapse of Allan Stanford's ponzi empire. When Stanford's bank proved unable to fund HSS' purchase of Emageon, Amicas collected Emageon for a song. That transaction made Amicas a player.

I sincerely hope that Ferro will explain his plan. Clearly, he's got to find costs to cut, given the rather large interest payments he must make. It's possible that the plan in place is the only way to wring sufficient costs from the combined operations. If the cuts ultimately destory the business, then perhaps the purchase was ill-advised.

I'll be very interested to see whether Kahane is on the call, and whether he's got any advisory role here.

Anonymous said...

Here's another thing. I used to live in Wisconsin, and Hartland is a really nice place. I have lived in Boston and environs, as well. I'll take Wisconsin any day of the week. Please dump the fly-over attitude.

Anonymous said...

Camtronics not Camtronix

Hartland IS much better than Boston and better weather than Seattle. PLUS, more affordable housing and better schools.

Merge WILL have a tough time making this work.

Anonymous said...

All I want to say is thank you for writing this. It was well put and says it all...there ARE people out there that care about the product they back and what is happening is sad. I understand business is business, but this is healthcare and about saving lives.