Dale Hockel, vice president of clinical engineering services at TriMedx, which provides healthcare equipment services for clinics, hospitals, imaging centers and surgery centers, itemizes five sticky situations in materials management and how to avoid them.
1. Deciding on a parts supplier. The healthcare facility has the option of using the original equipment manufacturer or an aftermarket dealer. "The OEM is going to be more costly, which may not meet the customer's price point," Mr. Hockel says. On the other hand, the quality of the after-market dealer's parts must be assessed. In some cases they may be used parts, which is acceptable if their quality can be vouchsafed. Ask if the part is ISO-certified, which is the international standard, or is certified for Six Sigma or Lean. The medical equipment service world has "continual service improvement" standards. "There are some parts you'd never consider buying in the after market," he says, citing a tube for a CT scanner, which would be absolutely vital for an imaging center or an ASC that depends on imaging.
2. Checking repairers' qualifications. The engineer or technician doing the repair may not be qualified to work on the equipment. "Qualifications vary according to the equipment," Mr. Hockel says. "Independent dealers can get training from the original equipment manufacturer to work on the equipment or be certified as a biomedical engineering technician."
3. Ensuring prompt repair of essential equipment. Repairs can be held up by delays in obtaining a needed part. The facility should get assurances for a fast turnaround time for "mission-critical" equipment, such as an imaging center's ultrasound system, which are key to its revenue-generation. "You want to ask about this upfront," Mr. Hockel says. "This should be in the contract." But even if there is no stipulation in the contract, some companies such as TriMedx will flag repair of urgently needed equipment as a priority when the request is called in.
4. Verifying expertise of materials group. The people in your materials group should be familiar with a wide range of equipment. "They need to be able to weigh in and understand the dynamics of the different choices," Mr. Hockel says. "They can help you identify and streamline where that part is at and who's the right source." Personnel must have a broad knowledge because "there is a lot of randomness to the parts that fail," he says. "Eighty-five percent of needed parts will only be ordered once."
5. Determining repairer's role in preventive maintenance. As part of the contract, when the company repairs the system, it should also undertake preventive maintenance, which in the parts industry is called meeting performance assurance requirements after repair. "In addition to fixing the problem, they should be looking at the rest of the machine," Mr. Hockel says. "A lot of companies do not do this."
Learn more about TriMedx.
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