by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | August 20, 2018
From the August 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Clinical education is also a big part of customized service offerings.
GE Healthcare recently began offering virtual reality goggles for clinical engineering training.
“Instead of flying to California or Wisconsin for training, they can use our simulation training technology,” said Scott Francis, U.S. general manager of service commercial for GE Healthcare.
Over the last few years, GE Healthcare began offering even more flexible contracts that support in-house teams, with clinical engineering taking the first pass at a problem and then GE stepping in when needed. They also offer solutions around phone support, online support and a concierge program for parts.
As part of its clinical education offerings, Siemens Healthineers recently launched FlexForce Coach and Tech.
For FlexForce Coach, Siemens sends trained experts to a facility to help customers get the most out of their imaging systems and help facilities drive outcomes-based improvements. The coach can do such things as help standardize exams over Siemens equipment in multiple locations.
Coaches can be on site for as little as three months or for multiple years.
FlexForce Coach can be purchased along with equipment, as part of a service contract or as a standalone feature.
“We sit with the customer to really discuss what does success look like, what pain points are they experiencing right now?” said Nanci Wozniak, vice president of education services at Siemens Healthineers. “We really gain an understanding of how we’re going to measure and monitor that.”
FlexForce Tech provides customers with highly-trained technicians if they’re facing a shortage of clinical resources.
“Every procedure that’s not being done is costing them money,” Wozniak said. “We’re coming to support our customers in those times of crisis when they can’t find the right talent.”
Predictive service with remote monitoring
OEMs have been shifting service contract focus from reactive and preventive maintenance to predictive and prescriptive actions enabled by system data.
