by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | August 27, 2018
From the August 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Such decisions come down to the types of equipment that require servicing with some providers only wanting their diagnostic imaging systems looked at, while others desire the same services to be applied to their biomedical equipment and laboratory diagnostic machinery in addition to their diagnostic imaging equipment.
“Hospitals are, more and more, choosing to go down the path of bidding everything, meaning that it’s going to be a biomed and imaging combined RFP (request for proposal) or tender versus maybe ten years ago when they would split it up,” James Salmons, vice president for Multivendor Services and All Parts Medical at Philips, said. “Maybe then they were perhaps more comfortable with one provider for biomed and a different provider for imaging, or even multiple providers for imaging. Today, there’s an apparent tendency at times to pick one winner.”
Companies that understand the unique needs of individual providers are the ones that are most likely to win those contracts, according to Sheila O’Donnell, VP of Crothall Healthcare’s Technical Resources Group.
“Customers are looking to optimize their assets and the value we bring. For instance, total life cycle cost is important to our clients,” she said. “Understanding where a customer has underutilized equipment or a need to standardize equipment is valuable information. We see more and more interest in our capital planning capabilities.”
A trend toward versatility and wide-ranging expertise
Back in the 1980s, X-ray was the one and only area for non-manufacturer imaging service agreements. That is not the case today.
“It’s evolved to where ISOs are now servicing all imaging modalities, including biomedical imaging equipment maintenance in some cases,” said Pat Fitzgerald, executive vice president and general manager at Richardson Healthcare.
The traditional role of the ISO has transformed in the last 30 years from entities specializing and providing services in one specific field to organizations equipped with skills and expertise to tackle problems plaguing multiple modalities from ultrasound to PET/CT. The ability to service equipment is also no longer tied to the specific manufacturer or the ISO’s origins.
“When most independents started, if they were ex-GE guys, then they would focus on GE equipment. Ex-Siemens would focus on Siemens and ex-Philips would focus on Philips,” Randal Walker, senior vice president of imaging equipment sales at Alpha Source Group, said. “When you go to an independent now and have a conversation about ten different pieces of equipment, odds are you have more than one option in the independent space that can handle 70-80 percent of that equipment. That’s a big shift.”
