by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | August 02, 2021
From the August 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Another way to keep the manufacturers close by while circumventing a traditional OEM service contract is by working with the multi-vendor service branch of an OEM. Dawn Bruce, services and solutions delivery leader of Philips Canada, works directly with Philips’ MVS unit and says such entities offer providers access to both OEM expertise at an affordable rate and at the same time, professionals who are trained to service more than just the solutions designed by the OEM they work for.
“We work with healthcare providers to understand and solve complex challenges and create meaningful innovation that drives healthcare forward, rather than taking a sole equipment or out of the box approach,” she said.
Contract negotiations
The best way to maximize any service contract agreement is for hospitals and healthcare systems to be upfront about what they expect out of their service and more importantly, what their business objectives are. This, according to Moorey, enables service providers to help providers meet short-term and long-term goals better.
“They need to be honest about the resources they can commit to their departments,” he said. “If they know they need to repurpose those valuable resources to grow on the clinical side then they’re going to need a strong partner that can come in alongside them and scale up as they grow and change as well.”
Healthcare providers also must be willing to make concessions. For instance, the more control one seeks, the less savings and opportunities they will typically find. In contrast, those who go for an agreement with the lowest price may be limited in the services they can access.
“Everyone operates a little differently, and for us to provide the best solutions, we must have a good understanding of the business flow as well as the customer's risk tolerance (unique to each facility, budgetary risk tolerance, usually),” said InterMed’s Staab. “Often this requires us to act as a consultant to our partners so that together we can yield the best results.”
Alpha Source’s Klotsche says, for quick and efficient service, in-house teams should figure out what they can handle and what is best left to the service provider. “People think they know how to repair a solution, but sometimes we find they create more of a problem in trying to solve this on their own. When we have a hospital or a partner who has a well-trained staff, that's a dream for us, because a well-trained staff is someone who knows what they can do and what they shouldn’t do.”
