From the August 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

3) How do I evaluate my parts suppliers?
There are many different types of parts suppliers, ranging from low-cost uninspected parts, to fully certified and warrantied parts. Buying parts for your medical equipment maintenance program is as important as selecting your service resources. In the case of parts, you should be evaluating your parts suppliers based on dependability, quality, partnership and cost. Since the patient experience is associated with every piece of medical equipment, confirm that your parts suppliers have an operation where parts are inspected, repaired and fully functionally tested by knowledgeable support specialists. You want confidence that you will receive the right part, at the time needed, at a fair price, and that the part works.

Look for parts suppliers who offer you more than just inexpensive parts. The old adage that ”you get what you pay for,” is especially true with equipment parts. Ask your parts supplier about their operations and customer references, the depth of their parts inventory and sourcing capabilities, ease of ordering, warranty policy, defect rates, return policy shipping costs and timeframes, training programs and what kind of technical support they provide to ensure you get the right part the first time.
Using these three questions in developing a medical equipment management program can help mitigate issues down the road. Ultimately, a strong medical equipment program can help reduce costs, improve access to care, and most importantly, improve the patient and clinician experience.

About the author: Cara Gaboury is the director of field service at Philips Multi-Vendor Services.
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