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Beyond silver, gold and platinum: How OEM service is getting more customized

by Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | August 20, 2018
Parts And Service
GE Healthcare recently began offering
virtual reality goggles for
clinical engineering training.
From the August 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

Precision medicine — physicians making decisions that are personalized to a patient based on their individual needs — is a huge buzzword in healthcare.

These days, OEMs are practicing what might be called precision service. They’re recognizing that there is a big difference between the service needs of a major health system versus a small community hospital, or even a local imaging center, and adjusting their offerings accordingly.

Moving beyond medals
Kevin Chlopecki
“There is no longer a one-size-fits-all in service agreements,” said Kevin Chlopecki, vice president of service for Konica Minolta.

Like many OEMs, Konica Minolta has evolved over the last two years from providing only platinum, gold and silver level contracts to customizing agreements as needed to meet the facility’s budget and internal resource requirements.

“We are happy to modify service agreements where we share the work and share the risk,” Chlopecki said. “It’s a win-win.”

David Phillips, senior director of field marketing for Philips Healthcare, said the company continually addresses its customers’ evolving service needs.

David Phillips
“People make investments to develop self-support capabilities for their organizations based on their specific needs, so there is no 'one size fits all' service plan,” Phillips said. “We work closely with customers to customize solutions that meet their current and future service and budget needs around maintenance, parts, data and systems interfacing and integration, clinical and service engineer training, product security, equipment performance management and utilization.”

Some companies are getting more creative with their service offerings.

In the last few years, Canon Medical Systems has expanded its service portfolio to be more flexible based on customer demand. The company now has roughly a dozen service solutions available through its InTouch Flex Agreements — including full service, shared risk and preventive maintenance — and allows customers to move between one agreement model and another, paying more or less money based on their selection, without being locked in.

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