How to Negotiate Medical Device Service Contracts

Hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and outpatient surgery centers use a lot of medical devices. As with all machinery, medical devices experience wear and tear that leads to malfunctions. Medical facilities seek to reduce problems through regular maintenance and when problems still occur, they need equipment repaired immediately. Quite literally, lives can be on the line. That's why good medical device service contracts are so important to facilities. Patients benefit when facility representatives have a clear picture of their needs and are savvy in their negotiations.

Instructions

• 1

  Check with similar facilities and health care systems to see what their service contracts entail. Ask about both the price and terms of service. If you don't have contacts with the purchasing departments or administrations at other facilities, use directories from industry associations like the American Hospital Association.

• 2

  Ask medical device vendors to present service plan proposals along with their sales presentations. Medical device salespeople usually visit hospitals prepared to discuss the features and prices of their products, but they aren't always prepared with a service package. Let them know that service matters to you before they walk in your doors.

• 3

  Shop several medical device vendors for any piece of equipment you may need. With each, discuss your service needs. Usually, regular maintenance, quick responses and low rates are the most important factors. Let service representatives know which is your top priority. After all, if it turns out the one with the best price can't offer quick service, it may not be a good deal for you. Collect service plan quotes from each vendor.

• 4

  Get back to the vendor whose product your facility likes best. If you found another vendor with better service terms or another medical facility getting a better deal from the same vendor, bring it to the representative's attention. Request that your organization gets the same deal or better if the vendor wants to do business.

• 5

  Join a group purchasing organization to help get you the best prices. GPOs represent large groups of medical facilities, combining their purchasing power to get better deals from vendors and suppliers. Although GPOs can make it more difficult for medical facilities to develop their own relationships with vendors, they may be able to get better rates and terms than your facility or system could get on its own.