From the May 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Stuart Grogan, radiology equipment manager at Medical Center Boulevard in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said his team has been able to develop relationships and tailor support agreements to access OEM tools. However, the facility typically would not buy imaging equipment from OEMs that are not willing to make tools available at little or no cost.

Cooperation is crucial
Forming a partnership is important for both parties, according to some HTM professionals. Barkov, with Advocate Health Care, said many OEMs partner with his organization in shared-risk relationships, and they collaborate to reduce cost and service issues. He believes that HTMs will always need the OEMs and to dismiss them, whether for purchase or warranty expiration, is not a responsible approach. OEMs seem to be increasingly aware of the benefits they gain from having trained professionals on site.
Siemens’ McCallum said, “[HTMs] can be an extension of our own service department in the sense that they can begin the troubleshooting process and can attempt to repair the system before we even arrive on site.” GE Healthcare takes a similar approach to working with an in-house department due to the fact that they are both customers and fellow engineers.

Aaron Goryl, general manager of inhouse and on-demand service sales at GE Healthcare said, “We integrate in-house engineers in with GE engineers during training and begin to develop that relationship from the start. Our local field teams have excellent relationships with their in-house partners, as it helps the overall service delivery process of assisting, ordering parts and ensuring compliance.”

“The more we work together on identifying and minimizing equipment abuse and error, the better it is for everyone, especially the patient,” said Courtney Nanney, national quality manager, clinical engineering, physical asset services at Catholic Health Initiatives in Louisville, Kentucky. “In the end, we serve the same customer, clinicians and patients, so it is critical for an OEM to have a solid relationship with their in-house partners,” said GE’s Goryl.

For Barkov, as equipment becomes more reliable, HTMs should continue to move away from just repair to being true technology managers. “We are at risk because we will not be able to use our expertise in terms of reliability-centered maintenance. Our work could begin to resemble more of an assembly line if we have to follow manufacturers’ procedures more than anything else,” he said, referring to CMS guidelines. “I hope to avoid diminishment of our profession.”

May 2016 Magazine

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