Siemens Healthineers has launched its flexible in-house service contract program, Share360 Tailored Service Portfolio, which is designed to help hospitals cut costs with a wide range of options.

According to Matthew McCallum, vice president of services business management at Siemens Healthineers North America, it “offers in-house clinical engineering teams an unprecedented level of flexibility,” and lets a solution be tailored “around the unique capabilities and requirements of a particular clinical engineering team.”

The service is part of a growing trend in the health care industry that promises a boost in workforce productivity, without a negative impact to patient safety and the care experience.

An example of this move: technicians able to work on higher-end gear like CT, MR and linear accelerators have been brought in-house at Advocate Health Care over the past few years, because “the math almost always adds up,” Steve Vanderzee, system director of clinical engineering at Advocate told HealthCare Business News in August.

“We can do it for less if we can get our folks trained and have access to parts and service literature and support,” he explained.

Share360 lets customers decide how much “engagement” they want, ranging from bumper-to-bumper to as-needed help, such as helping in-house staff with a particularly tough challenge.

Adoption is beginning, although "the bulk of our customers will still buy a full-service agreement that is inclusive of labor and parts, but that size of the market is declining,” McCallum noted in August.

While there may be less business as a full-service maintenance provider in the future, vendors like Siemens aren't necessarily opposed to the change in strategy.

“The manufacturers see the advantage of partnering with the in-house programs because if they like the equipment and the support provided, then there is a better chance they will be the next replacement option for them,” noted Vanderzee.

Siemens Healthineers was recently in the news as part of its ongoing IPO explorations. In late October, sources told Reuters that Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan will be its “global coordinator mandates.”

The IPO could top the list as the biggest German company deal in “years,” notes the wire service. The unit piled up a 9 percent Q3 profit to $681 million.

That included a 2 percent jump in orders, and was in keeping with expectations, according to August reports.

At that time, Siemens AG President and CEO Joe Kaeser stated that, “our global team delivered a solid quarter, with revenue up 8 percent and net income growing by 7 percent. Our digital enterprise business impressively underscored its leading position in the market. We are fully on track with Vision 2020 and for another strong year."

Parts And Service Homepage