Originally Published MX November/December
2001

COVER STORY

Internal development
and corporate acquisitions have made GE Medical Systems (GEMS; Waukesha, WI)
a major player in every market segment within the radiology sector. It is also
a serious contender in such outside areas as patient monitors, which the company
has lumped under the healthcare information technologies unit that it forged
in 2000.

GEMS brings in
about $8 billion per year, which amazingly amounts to a drop in the bucket compared
to the $130 billion in revenues garnered each year by all of GE. In fact, GE
has such a diverse array of products in its portfolio that some investors refer
to the company as being its own index fund.

While it may seem
that the medical business could easily get lost in such a massive portfolio,
nothing could be further from the truth. GE Medical Systems is more than the
accumulation of its annual revenues—more than a small fish in a big
corporate pond. GEMS is uniquely tied into the political structure of GE. The
company served as a springboard for GE's current chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Immelt,