By George Vunovic, Executive Vice President, Technologies, OC Reilly Inc.
(August 8, 2016)—After an exhausting grind through the grocery store, you slowly edge your cart to the cashier and begin unloading your selections, when out of your peripheral vision, a chocolate bar beckons.
You hadn’t planned on buying it, but impulse takes over and you grab it. Same with the celebrity gossip magazine, and maybe a pack of gum. All on impulse.
Medical equipment really shouldn’t fall into that same category. To be fair, most times it isn’t. But to dive into the market for medical equipment in a serious way requires a lot more than a cursory glance at what you’re buying, who made it, how it will be maintained, and a lot of other key questions. There’s no place for impulse purchases in this particular universe.
That same warning comes from the July/August 2016 edition of Supply Chain Strategies & Solutions. In an article titled, “What Your Last Car Purchase Can Tell You About Medical Equipment Procurement,” Alisandra Rizzolo, VP and General Manager of Global Customer Experience for Stryker Instruments, warns purchasers of medical equipment to do their homework before buying.
“Similar to buying a car, purchasing new capital equipment, such as a hospital bed, requires a more strategic and thorough approach than most purchases,” Rizzolo states. “Hospital beds, like cars, can be viewed as long-term investments. Factoring in a solution that helps you capitalize on your investment during your purchasing process is key.
“Finding a service partner who is committed to helping your facility operate at your highest capacity is vital,” she notes.
An independent third-party consultant, thoroughly familiar with medical equipment providers and purchasing scenarios, can perform the role of service partner alluded to in this article. It does require careful examination and evaluation of product features, manufacturers’ track records on reliability and maintenance, fair contract terms regarding price and warranties, and a host of additional factors, to make sure you’re getting the highest quality medical equipment at the most competitive cost.
Knowledgeable consultants fit that bill. Because there’s no room for insufficiently informed, impulse purchases when it comes to medical equipment.