Equipment Companies Shift Focus

However, even with costs on everyone's mind, facilities are still looking for quality, timeliness, and ease of use in medical equipment. Third party vendors have shifted their marketing strategy to full-range product and service coverage to meet these demands. Some companies even used AAMI for a trial run.


"Our marketing strategy has shifted," explained Barry Irvine, Director of Marketing, Tenacore. "More healthcare systems are looking at a consolidation of products under fewer service providers due to time management and cost effectiveness."


Irvine has directed Tenacore's marketing strategy to target companies like Aramark Healthcare and Catholic Healthcare and tell them, "we're going to consolidate your buying under our umbrella, taking your suppliers' needs and use a capsulization model to bring that all that under one house." Instead of issuing four different purchase orders, using companies like Tenacore who have integrated a system of full coverage of parts and service, facilities only have to issue one PO and save hundreds of dollars daily.

Others also noted their marketing shift to offer full product and service coverage to their customers. Block Imaging Vice President of Business Development Jason Crawford noted the current demand in the healthcare industry is for bringing more products and services together.

"The reality is that if I can sell pre-owned equipment to a facility," Crawford commented, "they are going to need service and they are going to need spare parts. The ability to provide service creates another outlet for spare parts. Providing discounted spare parts creates new opportunities for refurbished equipment sales." Crawford and the majority of AAMI Exhibitors interviewed by DOTmed agreed that in this industry and during this economy, everyone benefits the most when you are able to tie equipment, parts, and service components together in an integrative approach.

What the OEMs Say

Draeger Director of Sales and Marketing for Service Organizations David Karchner agreed that the recession is obviously causing major challenges for the OEMs in the healthcare marketplace. "As customers cut back in spending and the way they go to conventions or not go to conventions, we have to continue to reach out and build on the relationships that we already have." Karchner expressed they are reaching out to their customers in nontraditional ways, such as viral marketing. "What customers do whether they want to buy pizza or a piece of medical equipment is that they go onto the web. We are expanding on that capability and spending a lot of hours on our website and utilizing podcasts."

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