The RSNA annual meeting in Chicago is the largest radiology gathering in the world, drawing tens of thousands of radiologists, technologists, medical physicists and imaging IT professionals alongside a substantial vendor exhibition.
For imaging vendors it is the defining event of the year. It is also a difficult capture environment, because the buyer is a clinician and the purchase is capital equipment — two things that rarely go together elsewhere.
Why RSNA leads are unusual
The visitor is clinical, not commercial. A radiologist evaluating a workstation cares about reading ergonomics, image quality and how many studies they can get through in a shift. They will tell you all of it in detail — and none of it fits a standard lead form.
The purchase is capital. Imaging equipment runs to six and seven figures, tied to hospital capital budget cycles that are annual and inflexible. The question is rarely "do you want this" and almost always "when does your budget window open."
The approval chain is long. Radiology wants it. IT has to integrate it. Biomedical engineering has to maintain it. Finance has to fund it. Sometimes a group purchasing organisation has to approve the vendor at all. The person at your booth is one node in that chain.
Integration decides deals. PACS compatibility, DICOM conformance, HL7 or FHIR interfaces, and whether the thing plays nicely with an existing enterprise imaging strategy. A vendor who cannot answer these loses regardless of image quality.
The fields that decide an imaging deal
- Modality and configuration — specific, not category level
- Installed base and age — what is being replaced, and when it reaches end of support
- Reading volume — studies per day drives throughput requirements
- PACS / RIS environment — vendor and version
- Integration standards — DICOM conformance, HL7 v2 or FHIR
- Capital cycle — when the budget window opens, and whether funds are already allocated
- Approval chain — radiology, IT, biomed, finance, GPO
- Clinical champion — who inside actually wants it
A lead carrying these is a qualified capital opportunity. A lead carrying a name and a hospital is not.
Illinois is an all-party consent state
RSNA is in Chicago, and Illinois is generally treated as an all-party consent jurisdiction under 720 ILCS 5/14-2. Every participant in a recorded conversation must consent.
Illinois also has an unusually active privacy litigation environment — the Biometric Information Privacy Act has produced a large volume of class actions, and the state's plaintiffs' bar is attentive to privacy questions generally. A documented, per-conversation consent process is worth more here than almost anywhere else in the US.
Note also that RSNA attendees are international and come from across the US, including other all-party states. Ask everyone, every time, and log it. Full detail in our guide to two-party consent states.
HIPAA is a separate question
Worth stating plainly: if a conversation strays into specific patient cases — and at RSNA it sometimes does, because clinicians explain requirements through examples — you may be touching protected health information.
Practical guidance for booth staff:
- Steer requirement discussions toward categories and volumes, not individual cases
- If a clinician starts describing a specific patient, that is the moment to stop recording
- Do not retain anything that identifies a patient
This is not a reason to avoid capture. It is a reason to brief the team on where the line sits.
A workable RSNA process
Before
- Build the capital-sale fields into the CRM in advance
- Brief reps on the clinical vocabulary — credibility at RSNA is technical
- Prepare the consent script; Illinois is all-party
- Brief on the HIPAA boundary
- Agree who follows up which modality
During
- Badge scan for contact
- Consent before recording, re-asked when colleagues join
- Let the clinician explain their workflow — the detail is the value
- Confirm the capital timing explicitly before they leave
Each evening
RSNA runs long days with dense traffic. Same-day review is the only way the early days survive.
After
Capital sales cycles are long, but the follow-up window is short. A radiologist who explained their workflow in detail expects a response that reflects it. Generic follow-up here reads as not having listened.
The economics
An RSNA stand with equipment shipped and installed is among the most expensive exhibits in medical technology. The cost per conversation is high enough that losing the detail of any single one is material.
Industry research consistently finds most trade show leads are never followed up. In capital equipment the loss compounds — a missed budget window means waiting a full year.
That gap is what Confee is built to close: the conversation becomes structured CRM fields before the next visitor reaches the booth.
The short version
RSNA rewards technical credibility and precise capture. Get the modality, the integration environment, the capital timing and the approval chain. Get Illinois consent right. And know where the HIPAA line sits before a clinician walks you across it.
Related reading:
- Two-Party Consent States: Recording at US Trade Shows — the Illinois rules
- Lead Capture for Medtech Trade Shows — the sector playbook
- MEDICA Lead Capture — the European equivalent
FAQ
How should exhibitors capture leads at RSNA?
Capture the clinical and technical substance alongside the contact — modality, workflow integration, PACS and DICOM compatibility, reading volumes and capital budget timing. A badge scan records none of it.
Who attends RSNA?
Tens of thousands of radiologists, technologists, medical physicists, imaging IT professionals and administrators, alongside a large vendor exhibition. The audience is heavily clinical.
Is Illinois a two-party consent state?
Yes, under 720 ILCS 5/14-2. Every participant must consent. Illinois also has a notable privacy litigation history, so a documented consent process matters.
What fields matter most for imaging equipment leads?
Modality and configuration, installed base and age, reading volume, PACS/RIS environment with DICOM and HL7/FHIR needs, capital budget cycle, and the approval chain across radiology, IT, biomed and finance.