Each year I go to the Western Vet Conference and scour the show floor for a new round of vendor claims, obfuscations, mistruths, and otherwise well meaning tidbits from vendors selling digital radiography machines. Here is this years rundown.

#1 "We WON the SHOWDOWN": Wooohooo. The problem is that the SHOWDOWN has no winners. At the SHOWDOWN, we collect images from each vendor and give them to the veterinary community. There are no ratings. See for yourself.

#2 Company X is in financial trouble or company X is going out of business: Since there are only two publicly traded companies in the veterinary market and neither of them seem to be going out of business anytime soon, beware of claims of vendor solvency made by one vendor about another vendor. Where are they getting their information from anyway? Do yourself a favor and don’t get your investment information from a competing vendor.

#3: Flat Panel Detectors “wear out” when exposed to x-rays: This one comes up every year. Last year I researched this and could not find a single installation on either the human side or veterinary side where a flat panel “wore out” from too much exposure to x-rays. If a vendor tells you this, politely ask them for a list of hospitals (human or veterinary) that you can call where a plate wore out from exposure to x-rays. If they can’t provide you with one…maybe there are none.

#4: Dr. Wright “loves” our system: I do like several systems but love is a word that I rarely use when describing machines made of metal and plastic. Furthermore, there is no single system that is appropriate for every practice. What I love…er…like for one hospital may be completely inappropriate for another. If you hear about any of my love affairs, please confirm them from the source. Many times, this is simply an effort to get you not to do your research.

#5: This system is from the “human side” it has to be good: Many times this is true but I have just as many examples of machines that are sold on the human side but don’t work when applied to the veterinary workflow. Just because something works in a human hospital (and how can you really confirm this anyway) does not mean it is appropriate for; or has been adapted to animals.

#6: You probably have not heard of us but we are a “huge” company on the human side. Beware of this claim. We have seen many vendors dabble in the vet market and then disappear. Just because they are a “huge” company on the human side does not mean that they will stick around and can you really confirm they are a “huge” company on the human side anyway?

#7: This is our “show discount.” We have been through this before , show discounts are few and far between. Buyer beware!

#8: You will take 40-50% more films in your hospital: Wow! Does that mean that If I spend 100K, animals will just come walking in my door? Do I get my money back if I don’t take 40% more films? Bottom line: not all practices take more films and the ones that do only seem to take 10-25% more .

#9: We can “integrate” with your practice management software or "you can just export the images into practice management": Double Red Flag Super Show Special Warning (sirens and spinning red lights going off in the background). Integration is the new buzzword. Walking a memory stick across your hospital and uploading JPEGS into practice management to view images in a limited viewer is not only not integration, it is a complete waste of time. Funny that none of the vendors thought this was important a few years ago when we asked them for integration. If I remember correctly, they told us that we were nuts and veterinarians were not asking for this . If you want to integrate your practice management software you’re your digital radiography system, have your vendor define what integration means .

#10: CCD is the technology in the Hubble Telescope: Great! When you launch your clinic into outer space you will have the best suited x-ray machine. Until that happens just be sure the technology will work in your hospital.

#11: Our plate only requires 7watts/image, and our competitor requires 7000watts per image: usually bizarre and irrelevant vendor claims have some basis in something that is important. This one, however, really has no explanation. When the marketing director for this company was asked what this meant he said: "I'm not sure...I will look into it though." 

#12: CR is old technology: Absolutely. That is precicely why you want it. CR has been around for years and the kinks are worked out (at least for the good systems). Go to your local hospital- there will be a CR machine. CR does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon and the price cannot be beat. Hip and new may be best saved for fashion and cuisine. With an investment worth more your car, the old standby might just be what the doctor ordered.

#13: Veterinarians don’t need PACS: Some do. Some don’t. Before you buy that system that does not give you a way to distribute your images around your hospital, think forward to the time when you have to walk your pet owner through your hospital..right past the dog that just defecated in it’s cage, in order to see the radiographs in the back of the hospital. Don’t be cheap – get the software to distribute your images around your hospital.

#14: CCD machines use 5 times the amount of radiation than a flat panel detector: This one has at least some truth – about 2 years ago! The newer CCD cameras do not use more radiation than film. See for yourself.

#15: You will miss a diagnosis if you go with a CCD machine. There are good machines and bad machines of all technologies. Beware of generalizations. CR, CCD, and Flat Panel detectors each have their use depending on your situation. Heck, even veterinary radiologists could not tell what technology was used to generate an image .

#16: CCD machines can be fixed if they break but you have to throw out flat panel detectors: This seems to be true but A) If you buy a flat panel detector you don’t care because you are also buying the service contract and you are only going with a vendor you know will be here in 5-10 years (right??) B) A CCD machine can only be fixed if you can find parts for it. Technology changes and there is no guarantee that in 10 years you will be able to find parts for any digital system regardless of type. What happens if your vendor stops supporting your system or software? C) Where are all of these broken flat panel detectors anyway?

 #17: We took years to develop this CCD machine in our labs: This is true for only a very select group of CCD vendors. Most CCD vendors don’t really develop anything. The CCD machines sold by many vendors are made by only one or two companies. These cameras are then placed in an x-ray machine and resold under different names.

#18: "No board certified radiologist would read images from a CCD system": Those are fighting words. Maybe me and the 15 or so radiologists with www.insightradiology.net should turn in our credentials as we are all happy to accepts good quality CCD images. In the past, this statement might have had some merit. However, with modern CCD machines, I find it hard to believe that there are any radiologists who would not accept CCD images. Again, this is only referring to good quality CCD images. Images from crummy CCD macines - that is another story. 

#19: There is more radiation exposure with CCD: In some cases, this is true. Largely, however, this was a holdover from previous iterations of CCD machines. Be sure to check the SHOWDOWN results for your vendors CCD exposure rate. In many cases, the exposures used by CCD vendors selling modern CCD machines is pretty close to film. When compared to film, you will have fewer repeats so the overall exposure to your staff is likely lower. 

#20: "You can email images to your radiologist": You can also email your radiologist 1/2 the information included in the study and hope that they don't miss anything. If you want to get the most out of your teleradiology experience, do not use email. Rather, sending the DICOM images directly to the radiologist server is the way to go.

#21: "This system is DICOM compatible": This statement is not really that interesting unless you realize that this vendor failed their DICOM validation and is not listed on the list of validated veterinary digital vendors .

#22: if you buy a CR machine instead of our DR machine you are going to have a tough time selling your practice: The implication here is that CR is an old technology and DR will help you get your practice sold. Come on - do you really think this is going to be a factor. Moreover, there is really nothing wrong with CR in many veterinary practices. Pure fluff.