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This report originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News

It's 10 p.m. and you're the biomedical engineer on call at your hospital. An X-ray machine circuit board burns out on a high-volume system. What should you do to get the part? You have several options.

If the unit is still under an OEM service contract, you're covered. But the costs in terms of dollars tied to response time may be high. As DOTmed has previously reported, the current trend is toward hospitals, imaging centers and health care providers prolonging equipment life through careful maintenance and upgrades and shifting medical equipment service in-house to reduce costs.

"You are still seeing a lot of places holding onto their machines instead of buying new. Many have capital budget freezes from concerns about the economy. People are keeping their equipment longer and looking for lower-cost service and parts solutions to keep those machines running," said Wayne Kramer, Vice President of Global Parts Operations, C&G Technologies, Inc. C&G Technologies is an equipment and service provider that went into the parts business, a common model in the medical equipment aftermarket. With their technical background, independent service organizations (ISOs) know how to handle, test, store and ship parts and they often maintain a significant inventory.

Another company that made the shift from service to parts is First Call Parts, formerly Blue Ridge Medical Imaging. The company was a refurbisher for Siemens and parlayed its technical prowess into parts repair and testing for many diagnostic imaging modalities and OEMs.

"We took our ISO refurbishment procedures and translated them to testing procedures for the parts," said Steve Bush, Director of Business Development. The company has demanding quality assurance and board level repair capabilities, and provides a six-month parts warranty, one of the longest in the industry.

Many of these specialized shops focus on a particular type of system. For instance, Platinum Medical Parts is a dedicated GE MRI parts and service company that sells and warranties used, tested parts. Given customers' reluctance to upgrade, ISOs like Platinum are faced with the growing challenge of finding systems from which to harvest medical equipment parts.




"There is a dearth of equipment available. It has become more difficult to purchase used gear. There is just not as much in the marketplace right now and that is a function of the medical economy and the greater economy," said Jeffrey Fall, President of Platinum. "At the same time, people who have stuff are hanging on to it longer. We are seeing customers that I don't think would have looked to a third-party solution five years ago coming to places like Platinum and seeing how we can help them out. That trend will continue for some time."

Saving the Day

Choosing a quality independent parts supplier can really save the day when equipment fails. It can also save your facility a lot of money.

"We generally are 65% to 85% off the OEM list cost. We are very competitive in pricing. If we have it in-house, we will meet or beat our competitors' price," said Mary Lampley, Vice President, J&M Trading, Inc., Goodlettsville, Tenn. The town is perhaps the nation's medical equipment parts capital, with several DOTmed user parts specialists located there. Most of J&M's orders are filled from the company's large inventory, although they do source parts when needed.

"If it's something difficult to find, we don't have any problem reaching out to our contacts to find that part," Lampley said. Despite the costs and overhead of the inventory, parts are still cheaper from a company with a large warehouse than from brokers who don't stock or own parts, she indicated.

"We don't have to mark-up the part 10% to 20%. We simply have a percentage we consider for warehouse costs-employees, inventory, packaging-and we don't have a markup because we have those tested parts in house. It saves a whole lot of money," she said.

Lampley's reported discount closely reflects DOTmed.com's overall user base. A recent survey conducted by DOTmed shows that aftermarket parts companies can cut 30% to 85% from OEM parts prices.

The other half of the value equation requires that you find a quality part.
"There are a lot of players out there, but only a few select quality suppliers. What distinguishes the good ones is their ability to thoroughly test parts," said Matthew Charkhkar, President, Harmony Medical Solutions. "In addition to testing, the company must have an infrastructure to handle and support sensitive circuit boards and parts."




An example of parts handling care relates to anti-static measures in removing, handling and storing parts. Testing may entail ensuring that the part is operational prior to deinstall, testing in a system bay or bench testing on the component level. You'll want to find out how the parts you buy are tested and what quality assurance is in place.

"The trend toward lowest price has come full circle. Hospitals find the lowest price part doesn't always work and now they are down another day and have to wait for delivery of the part they should have bought in the first place," said Jeremy Probst, Operations Manager for Technical Prospects and its division SiemensMedicalParts.com. "When you have a customer who is trying to save $500 or even $1,500 for the cheaper part and it's on a CT that is critical to the revenue stream for the hospital that could cost $30,000 to $100,000 in lost throughput on the machine, it's a questionable decision."

Probst noted that administrators are keenly aware of this tradeoff but that engineers are not always. His ISO-certified company has checklists and procedures all along the way to handle parts correctly from removal of equipment to shipping of parts.

"Shipping causes the most trouble. We have had to adjust the way we ship and pack items. We have double checks on everything that goes out with another employee looking at the item to make sure it is clean and packed properly and will make it to the destination," he said.

It is helpful to be aware that while ISOs offer a wide array of used parts, they also do sell new parts. On the flipside of the coin, OEMs aren't necessarily selling new.

"You have to be careful with the term 'new' because if it is coming from the OEM, that doesn't always mean new," said Kramer. "It may mean repaired just like a repaired part from us. What is important to realize, is that when a company does repairs they are adding value to the part. In that way, they find not just the failures, but the weaknesses. When we do a repair, we are looking at the components that have failed in the field on top of those components that are about to fail. We replace them all upfront so that what we send out is as close to new as you can get."

Modality Focus

As providers try to wring every bit of service life they can out of medical equipment, companies in the business of saving health care costs, such as parts suppliers, are well positioned. Ultrasound, an affordable, ubiquitous and versatile technology, is a prime example of a technology in constant need of parts.




"The parts business is expanding rapidly. As hospitals and imaging centers are holding on to their systems longer, these older systems are more likely to breakdown and need parts. Hospitals are going to continue to look for reliable, yet reasonably priced parts," said David Trogden of Ultra Solutions. The company provides ultrasound parts and service.

Small firms to large, OEMs can prove a reliable source of quality parts. GE Healthcare saw fit to acquire Ambassador Medical in 2002, boosting the OEM's specialization in quality refurbished ultrasound systems and parts.

"We benefit from the trend in which ultrasound is becoming more powerful; you see more procedures done on ultrasound that had previously been done on the bigger modalities," said Tom Seiler, General Manager of the Ambassador Medical Division of GE Healthcare. "There is more ultrasound equipment out on the market so there is greater demand for parts."

It's important to mention that Ambassador supports multiple vendors and not just GE. Ambassador also repairs parts including circuitboards, power utilities, back-end processors and peripherals such as printers and VCRs. (Note that major components such as probes for ultrasound, MRI coils and CT glassware will be covered in future reports.)




Saving money isn't the only force driving the refurbished parts business. Outright necessity also plays its part since older equipment of many modalities and applications may not be supported with new OEM parts. This has created a thriving and highly competitive parts aftermarket for all types of medical equipment. Finding parts is as easy as surfing the internet and DOTmed.com. But it's more important than ever to do your due diligence on the source of the part. It turns out that the same economic stressors that cause hospitals to keep machines longer have also led to unscrupulous practices by some parts brokers.

"In these bad economic times, some companies will take the deposit and put off on supplying the product until they can find the equipment or part to match their proposed price," cautioned Rick Stockton, president, Atlas Medical Technologies. "They don't have the part, they take the money and it comes down to the doctor trying to get something that is beyond reasonable price, expectations or operational ability.... Sometimes too good of a deal is just that."

One-Stop Shops

Since many independent companies have parts divisions that grew directly out of their service operations, they tend to specialize in certain modalities or OEMs. But what if you don't want the hassle of maintaining a vendor list for all types of equipment?

Using a single supplier can save time and aggravation in finding quality parts.

The largest third-party inventory of parts is maintained by ReMedPar, with five million parts at its disposal.

"ReMedPar has been an early pioneer in providing parts that have been tested for a large spectrum of diagnostic imaging modalities. Our wide product portfolio offers customers one-stop shopping by providing more than just say, CT or MRI," said Jay Oyakawa, Chief Development and Operations Officer. "ReMedPar's primary source of parts comes from our inventory of tested parts. Our product marketing group identifies key modalities and manufacturers from which we will harvest parts for inventory. If we do not have a part in stock, we source from hundreds of qualified parts providers."

These reliable parts companies are all well-known to each other and industry insiders. They have a very competitive relationship, but also help each other out to find parts for customers.

"Lots of companies are surviving on their parts right now. It is getting more competitive but I don't have a problem with that. The competitiveness and growth forces the mature market to become more valid," said Mike Helms, Troff Medical. "Credible people and good parts companies or equipment companies in the used market are going to stay and be sought out."

So now you know your options in finding quality parts. These include brokers without parts in stock, sourcing companies that do the legwork for you, dealers with an inventory, independent service providers, large suppliers with significant warehouses, and original equipment manufacturers. Better start your online search now.

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DOTmed Registered Medical Equipment Parts Providers Companies
Names in boldface are Premium Listings.

Domestic
Patrick Hardy, Dietz Healthcare, Inc, AZ
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Ultrasound transducers
Thomas Wodarczak, Jet Medical Electronics, Inc., CA
David Trogden, Ultra Solutions, CA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Philips,Siemens and GE ultrasound
Bill Burnett, Pyramid Medical, CA
Rick Stockton, Atlas Medical Technologies, CA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-CT and MRI
Scott Hassler, KPI Ultrasound, CA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Ultrasound transducers
Chuck Coco, Chuck Coco, CA
Anja Mannzen, The MedWarehouse, CA
Katy Biggerstaff, Tenacore Holdings, Inc., CA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-SpO2 and ECG/EKG cables, fetal transducers, monitors, infusion pumps, O2 blenders, wall suction regulators
Dan McGuan, Viable Med Services, Inc., CA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Hitachi and Toshiba MRI and CT, Siemens PET
Joe Avina, American International Medical, CA
Kurt Bringolf, Eclipse Medical Imaging, CA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-CT and MRI
Elmer J. Ruder, Nova Technologies, Inc., CO
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Diagnostic Ultrasound
Bruce Smith, Sonora Medical Systems, CO
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Ultrasound, MRI & Mammography, Dunlee X-ray tubes
Bernie Bartoszek, MagnaServ, Inc., CO
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-GE MRI and CT
Bryce Lindsey, NorCo Medical Products, CO
Photios Dalamagas, Soma Technology, Inc., CT
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Biomedical equipment , C-arm, Portable X-ray
Jeffrey Fall, Platinum Medical Parts, LLC, FL
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-GE MRI
David Denholtz, Integrity Medical Systems, Inc., FL
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Bone Densitometer, Mammography, C-Arms, X-ray, CT, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, Laser Cameras, Ultrasound
Damon Dembkoski, Beta Medical, FL
-CT Scanners
Terence Michael, S E O Enterprises, Inc., FL
Janie Guirola, Transphoton Corporation, FL
Sergio Cabrera, Transphoton Corporation, FL
Woody Peters, Amber Diagnostics, FL
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-CT, MRI, C-Arm, X-Ray, Radiographic, Bone Densitometer, Ultrasound, Nuclear Camera, Mammo, R/F Room, Rad/Tomo, Cath/Angio Labs
Bill Adkins, National X-Ray Corporation, FL
DOTmed Certified
Derrell McCrary, Choice Medical Systems, Inc., FL
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Diagnostic ultrasound
Nadia Davis, ND Medica, Inc., GA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-X-Ray, ultrasound, CT injectors/ syringes
Randy Cox, MRI Technical Services, Inc., GA
John Claybourn, Technical Options of Georgia, GA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Linear Accelerators of most brands, Magnetrons, Thyratrons
Lamar Gale, Gale Medical, LLC, GA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Ultrasound
Michael W. Karlowicz, KUMA Imaging Solutions, GA
Randy Obrecht, Control Boards PLus, IA
Joe Murray, Medeco, ID
DOTmed Certified
Eric Ellingson, MEDX, Inc., IL
Rick Aguilar, Barrington Medical Imaging, LLC, IL
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-MR and CT Siemens, Philips, Picker,GE, Toshiba
Claudia Haaning, Axess Ultrasound, LLC, IN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Ultrasound
Greg Kramer, C&G Technologies, Inc., IN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-GE CT, GE PET/CT, Toshiba CT
Colin Grady, Ambassador Medical, A GE Healthcare Company, IN
DOTmed Certified/100
Christopher Turner, C&C Medical Solutions Inc., IN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Imaging Ultrasound
Allie Blanford, Lite Source, Inc., KY
Bob Gaw, PRN, MA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Vascular testing equipment for PAD
Garret Purrington, Medical Equipment Dynamics, MA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed 100
-O/R Capital Equipment, Monitor, Defibrillator, Surgical Microscope and Infusion Pump, Surgical Table Accessories, Ultrasound Probes, Endoscopy Cameras, Camera Head and Light Source
Wayne Horsman, Columbia Imaging, Inc., MD
Glenn R. Hammerquist, Berrien X-Ray, MI
Krista Kotrla, Block Imaging International, Inc., MI
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Radiology Parts
Steve Danielson, Acurad Technical Services, LLC, MN
Bob Caples, Med-E-Quip Locators, Inc., MO
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Infusion/syringe pump, Kendall SCD Pumps
Jason Eden, Bio Basics Global, MO
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Electric Beds, Patient Monitoring, Defibrilators, Endoscopy camera processor, IV Pumps
Joe Zaremba, Advanco Medical Systems, MO
Dave French, Mediquip Parts Plus, Inc., MO
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Steris and Getinge Equipment, Sterilizers and Washers
Clark Wilkins, JDI Solutions, Inc., NC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Siemens MRI
James Goldner, First Source, Inc., NC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-CR, Laser Imagers & Film Processors
Patrick Helms, Troff Medical Services, NC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-All imaging equipment
Dan Wheeler, Transtate Equipment Co., NC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Cath/angio systems, C-arms
Kenneth Wolff, RS&A, Inc., NC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Linear Accelerators, Simulators, Klystrons, Magnetrons, Thyratrons, RF Drivers, RF Drivers
Lisa Wiggs, Absolute Imaging Solutions, NC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-ADAC/Philips nuclear imaging systems
Rick Sagadin, Carolina Medical Parts, NC
DOTmed Certified
Christi Kukes, DMS Health Technologies, ND
Scott Sobolik, Superior Radiographic Systems, ND
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed 100
-Philips
Tim Feehan, Alpha Omega Technologies, Inc., NJ
Thomas Freund, Oxford Instruments, NJ
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-MRI Magnet Parts, Cold Head Parts, Compressor Parts
Anthony Burgos, Bemes, Inc., NJ
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Respiratory, ventilators, SensorMedics PFT
Joseph Sciarra, Marquis Medical, NJ
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-PET, PET/CT, CT
Mike Moreno, MedPro, Inc., NJ
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Cosmetic, medical and ophthalmic lasers
Mohamed Maaty, Pan Am Imaging, Inc., NJ
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed 100
-GE MRI
Ralph J. Pesant, RJP International, Inc., NY
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Fetal Transducers and monitors, Patient monitors, HP Defibrillators, Baxter infusion pumps
John Race, Lakeshore Technologies, Inc., NY
Joshua Glas, ADAM Medical Sales, Inc., NY
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Diagnostic imaging, X-ray and CT
Jacob Klein, Longevity Parts, NY
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Multi vendor parts for all modalities
Karen Forman, Long Island Ophthalmic Service, NY
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Ophthalmic equipment
Warren Thompson, Bulbtronics, NY
Michael Minch, BiCOM, Inc., NY
Leon Gugel, Metropolis International, NY
DOTmed Certified/100
Noel Estrada, Advantage Medical Systems, NY
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Home health care products inc. liquid oxygen systems concentrators
Gary Bischoff, Electronic Control Concepts, NY
Abe Sokol, Absolute Medical Equipment, NY
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-EKG, Ultrasound, Patient Monitoring, Defibrillator, Bone Density, Anesthesia, Mammography, Cardiology, Lab, Fetal monitor, X-Ray Tube, CT MRI Coil
Steve Stepanski, Express Systems & Parts Network, Inc., OH
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Diagnostic Imaging
Robert Sadowski, Standard Register, OH
Mark Reep, KLC Services, Inc., OH
Tony Smith, Classic Diagnostic Imaging, OH
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-All imaging equipment
Lonnie Jeffries, JMED Imaging, Inc., OK
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-GE Advantx RFX 8835SFD LPX-Generator
Sean Chen, Grand Medical Equipment, Inc., PA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-All imaging equipment
Jason Ragazzo, Biomedix Medical, PA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Infusion pumps
Jason Botko, A+ Medical Company, Inc., SC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Rad, R/F, Mammo, Cath lab, C-arm, Bone Density, Nuclear Med and some CT
Trey McIntyre, MedicalPartsProvider.com, SC
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed 100
-CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Cath Labs, R/F Rooms, Mammography
Debbie van der Touw, Radiology OneSource, TN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-X-Ray and diagnostic imaging systems and replacement probes
Gary Casey, A.C.M.I., TN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-MRI, CT, Ultrasound and X-Ray parts
Matthew Charkhkar, Harmony Medical Solutions, TN
Mary D. Lampley, J&M Trading, Inc., TN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-All OEMs, All Modalities
Juliet Poole, ReMedPar, TN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-CT, MRI, Mammography, Portable X-ray, X-ray, Cath Lab, C-Arm, Ultrasound
Desmond Johnson, DEXAScanners, Inc., TN
Wanda Legate, AllParts Medical/CT Resources, TN
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Cath, R&F, CT, Imaging
Charles Tucker, MedSurg Equipment, LLC, TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Medical Gas Connections, Patient Monitor Cables and Monitors, Cell Signal Boosters
Stephan Anderson, AAN Radiology Systems, Inc., TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Nuclear Systems Engineering Parts
Marshall Shannon, Image Technology Consulting, LLC, TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-95% of all Philips MRI parts made from 1988 to current
Scott Townsend, Townsend Surgical, TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Endoscopy
Edmond Bright, Elite Biomedical, TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation, Fitness & Exercise, Defibrillator, Monitoring
John Crownover, Laser Scientific, TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-GentleLase, GentleYAG, V-Beam, GentleLase Plus
Larry Knight, Sunrise Medical Technology, Inc., TX
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-Siemens, Philips and Picker CT and MRI
Christopher Ostler, Wholesale Aesthetics, LLC, UT
DOTmed Certified
Bill Murdock, VIP Medical, Inc., VA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor
-Respiratory Critical Care Ventilator
Philip Mothena, Simple Solutions, Inc., VA
Steve Bush, First Call Parts, Inc., VA
DOTmed Certified
Joseph Cramer, IV Technologies, Inc., VA
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-OEM IV Pump Replacement
Tom Luque, ECS Nuclear, WA
Rich Cram, World Medical Equipment, WA
DOTmed Certified
Jeremy Probst, Technical Prospects LLC, WI
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified/100
-Siemens Imaging, Injector, Siemens CT, Siemens X-ray, Philips MX 8000
LeRoy Blawat, Resonant Diagnostics LLC, WI
DOTmed Certified Parts Vendor | DOTmed Certified
-MRI Coils and calibration equipment for GE MRI scanners

International
Norbert Schulz, Schulz Consulting, Austria
Neil Segal, Canadian Medical Products, Canada
Charles Cao, Decon Trade, China
Sreenivasan Kopula, Indiaultrasound Sales 'N' Service, India
Niranjan Kumar, India Ultrasound, India
DOTmed Certified/100
Muhammed Yunus, Alnoor Hospital, Pakistan

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