David Ramsey had a problem that looked like an opportunity.
Back in 2010, the founder of Radiology Data & Research noticed something peculiar about the medical imaging industry: nobody knew where anything was.
Service companies didn't know which facilities needed maintenance. Aftermarket suppliers were shooting blind at potential customers. The information existedāscattered across thousands of hospitals and imaging centersābut no one was systematically collecting it.
Fifteen years later, that observation has become the foundation of the medical imaging industry's most comprehensive equipment database. Today, Radiology Data maintains intelligence on over 46,000 advanced imaging scanners across more than 15,000 facilities nationwide.
The secret wasn't revolutionary technology or massive investment. It was something simpler: persistent, systematic data collection powered by a Tiny Teamā¢ in the Philippines.
The Market Gap That Started Everything
When Ramsey founded Radiology Data & Research, equipment manufacturers like GE Healthcare, Siemens, and Philips faced a fundamental challenge. They needed to understand their market, but the diagnostic imaging segment was remarkably opaque.
Equipment installation announcements were sporadic. Facility websites rarely listed specific equipment models. Personnel directories went out of date quickly. Market research firms provided broad overviews but lacked the granular detail that sales and service teams actually needed.
Equipment manufacturers, service providers, and aftermarket vendors lacked a reliable way to identify which facilities had installed specific equipment models, track installation dates and potential upgrade cycles, or connect with key decision-makers in radiology departments.
The opportunity was clear, but the execution would be massive.
Building a comprehensive database meant documenting equipment across thousands of hospitals and outpatient imaging centersāalong with the facility ownership structures and key personnel who made purchasing decisions.
More challenging still: maintaining accuracy as the industry evolved through constant facility openings, closures, consolidations, equipment replacements, and personnel changes.
The Outsourcing Decision That Changed Everything
Rather than attempting to handle the resource-intensive data collection in-house, Ramsey made a strategic decision that defined his company's future: He outsourced the entire data collection and management operation to Lambent's team in the Philippines.
This wasn't just about cost savings. It was about focus.
"Radiology Data operates as a lean organization that outsources most of its required services," explains the partnership structure that allowed the company to concentrate entirely on client relationships and product development while delegating the systematic data collection that forms their business foundation.
The Lambent team established a 15-year program built around three core activities: information archaeology, conversations that count, and data that works.
Information Archaeology: Digging for Hidden Intelligence
The most valuable data rarely volunteers itself. Medical facilities don't send press releases about personnel changes or equipment replacements. Someone has to dig for these insights, layer by layer.
Lambent's research team systematically uncovers intelligence through multiple channelsāindustry publications, manufacturer announcements, healthcare construction reports, and facility communications. They track equipment manufacturer press releases, review healthcare construction projects and expansions, analyze medical imaging center directories, and monitor professional association publications.
This foundation of secondary research provides the framework for more targeted verification efforts.
Conversations That Count: Human Verification
Database accuracy depends on human verification. While automated systems can collect basic information, confirming equipment specifications, installation dates, and personnel details requires actual conversations with healthcare professionals.
Lambent's team makes strategic calls to radiology departments and imaging centers to confirm findings and fill information gaps. These aren't cold callsāthey're focused conversations with healthcare professionals who understand the value of accurate industry data.
Each interaction builds relationships while gathering specific intelligence. The team confirms equipment models and specifications, verifies installation dates and usage patterns, identifies key personnel and contact updates, maps department structures and reporting relationships, and documents planned equipment purchases or replacements.
Data That Works: Building Market Intelligence
Through careful organization, raw information becomes valuable intelligence. Lambent structures RDR's database to answer the questions subscribers ask, not just store random facts.
The database maintenance process includes standardized facility naming and categorization, equipment tracking by manufacturer, model, and vintage, geographic clustering and market analysis, personnel database with role classifications, change tracking, and historical data preservation, and quality scoring with verification status indicators.
Clean architecture means subscribers can quickly identify prospects, analyze market trends, and spot opportunities.
The Results: Market-Leading Intelligence Platform
Since partnering with Lambent in 2010, Radiology Data has achieved remarkable growth:
- Expanded Coverage: Built and maintained a database documenting over 8,500 outpatient imaging facilities and 5,200+ hospitals
- Enhanced Accuracy: Achieved industry-leading data precision through consistent verification protocolsā97%+ verified data points
- Increased Efficiency: Optimized data collection costs while improving completeness and coverage
- Loyal Customer Base: Established long-term subscription relationships with equipment manufacturers, service organizations, and medical suppliers
The program operates with just 2 dedicated data specialists plus 1 supervisor, maintaining 15,000+ facilities with 46,000+ equipment records through complete annual database review cycles.
Why it Works
The long-term nature of the Lambent-Radiology Data partnership has created significant competitive advantages:
- Deep Industry Knowledge: The team has developed specialized expertise in medical imaging technology terminology, healthcare facility organizational structures, efficient verification techniques that respect healthcare professionals' time, and industry relationship building and maintenance.
- Refined Processes: Years of collaboration have led to highly optimized data collection methodologies that maximize accuracy while maintaining cost efficiency.
- Relationship Continuity: Healthcare facilities recognize Lambent's team as legitimate RDR representatives, enabling more effective data gathering.
- Program Stability: Low turnover creates consistent quality and institutional knowledge retention.
As David Ramsey puts it: "Outsourcing our data collection to the folks at Lambent has been a breeze. Because quality data is a key aspect of our business, we are pleased that our outsourced team has been a solid partner for data survey and data management."
The Competitive Advantage of Systematic Collection
What makes Radiology Data's database valuable isn't just its sizeāit's the systematic approach to collection and verification.
While competitors might compile basic facility lists, Radiology Data provides the granular detail that drives purchasing decisions in the medical imaging industry.
Their subscribers use the database to identify and reach key imaging decision-makers, quickly find facilities with specific equipment, update internal sales and marketing databases, recruit decision-makers for market research studies, and analyze MRI installed base alongside other imaging modalities.
The verification methodology has been continuously optimized over 15 years to maximize accuracy while maintaining cost efficiency. This long-term approach has created significant competitive advantages that would be difficult for new entrants to replicate.
Lessons for Data-Driven Businesses
The Radiology Data story offers several insights for businesses considering outsourced data collection:
- Focus Enables Growth: By outsourcing data collection, Radiology Data could focus entirely on client relationships and product developmentātheir core differentiators.
- Persistence Pays: Fifteen years of consistent effort created a resource that competitors would struggle to duplicate.
- Human Verification Matters: While automation handles basic collection, human interaction remains essential for data quality and relationship building.
- Partnership Depth: Long-term relationships enable specialized expertise and process refinement that short-term arrangements cannot match.
- Simple Systems Work: Rather than building complex technology solutions, RDR succeeded through systematic execution of straightforward processes.
Building Data Foundations
The medical imaging equipment market needed systematic intelligence. David Ramsey saw the opportunity, but rather than trying to build everything in-house, he partnered with specialists who could execute the vision.
Fifteen years later, that partnership has created the industry's most comprehensive equipment databaseāa business model that other industries are beginning to notice.
For companies sitting on similar market intelligence opportunities, the Radiology Data approach offers a proven framework: identify the information gap, establish systematic collection processes, partner with execution specialists, and maintain persistent effort over time.
Sometimes, the best technology is simply doing the work consistently, year after year.
Ready to build your list? Lambent's virtual research teams specialize in systematic data collection for specialized industries. Learn how we can help identify the information gaps that create competitive advantages for your business.
