This article is from in the October 2007 issue of DOTmed Business News. A list of registered users that provide sales & service can be found at the end.

From a $100,000 RF generator cabinet for an MRI, down to a $35 mechanical component, each part of every medical device is essential to hospital operations.

Getting parts for medical equipment may not seem like rocket science, but it can get tricky quickly. For instance, how do you know which part needs replacement? What is a good source for the part? Does the supplier have it in stock? Has it been tested? Does it come with a warranty? Can you, or should you, install it yourself? You'll need to know something about the parts industry to arrive at favorable answers to these critical questions.

To maximize return on investment in medical equipment, your facility must keep technology in service as long as possible including imaging equipment, infusion pumps, endoscopes, defibrillators, monitors, anesthesia equipment, respiratory, cardiology, sterilizers, etc. That means you need parts, especially for older equipment.

Fortunately hundreds of sources are out there to find parts for equipment dating back decades. The biggest challenge is probably not finding the part, but rather finding the right parts supplier. Price is certainly a priority but so is quality. In addition to the OEMs, which don't necessarily have parts for their older devices, a number of exceptional third party parts suppliers support the nation's hospitals to keep equipment humming.

Parts companies include brokers, who simply transact sales without stocking parts, and dealers who run more sophisticated operations to source and stock thousands of parts for nearly any device. Some dealers are specialized, for instance for medical imaging or even more specifically, say for ultrasound. Others provide parts for multiple imaging modalities and for other medical equipment too.




"People don't realize that many brokers out there have a virtual inventory. When you call them, they call us directly for the parts," said Steve Bush, Director of Accounting and Business Development, Blue Ridge Medical Imaging, Salem, Va. The company purchases equipment directly from hospitals through OEM trade-ins and third-parties. "In an average year we acquire 50 to 75 new systems and part those systems out for our customers accordingly....What we are trying to do is separate ourselves and get the hospitals, through their GPO [group purchasing organization], OEM, or ISO [independent service organization] to call us directly so we can pass those savings along to them," Bush said.

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