by
Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | May 07, 2018
An alternative way to work productively with equipment manufacturers is to form partnerships with reputable independent service organizations (ISOs) who can cover a significant amount of the work themselves while enlisting the OEM when a job requires a higher level of expertise.
Codi Nelson, biomedical equipment technician at Crothall Healthcare, reported having a “strong relationship” with many manufacturers. When Crothall is contracted by a hospital, they look for any gaps in service documentation, and work with the hospital to make sure they have all documentation in place. When purchasing new equipment, they work with hospitals to ensure they negotiate to obtain the service documentation.
According to Tim Riehm, regional vice president of Sodexo Clinical Technology Management, the quality of OEM partnerships can depend on the regional managers and their desire to collaborate with healthcare partners. At the engineering level, he finds that almost everyone is interested in supporting the end user and patients that are connected to medical devices.
Beau Abreu, BMET II at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma
City, OK is one of 110 SSM Health HTM employees
who support the health system
“These relationships can and will continue to improve through enhanced, constant communication and open minds on all side of the equation,” he said.
Are new service standards on the horizon?
Establishing a productive relationship with an OEM can be a great way to save money and reduce headaches over time. Without those partnerships, working with manufacturers on equipment they are not contracted to service can present costly challenges.
When a manufacturer does not have a strong relationship with a facility’s in-house or third-party service team, they might make the case that providing all the tools to service their equipment would be hazardous to patient safety. For clinical engineers, this can create a frustrating problem.
Polarized perspectives on the debate over who can service equipment came to a head in 2016 with the FDA’s investigation into the issue. Since then, a bit of common ground seems to be emerging where OEMs acknowledge the importance of a competitive market and third-parties acknowledge the need for some level of oversight for their services.
