Service Contract

In my 20-years of managing CSSPD I have had a number of OR Directors, Materials Managers, Nursing Managers, and a never ending list of sales reps.  It has been the relationship that I have developed with the service professionals that has been the most rewarding.

 

The education one can receive form a seasoned service provider can save your hospital money and insure patient/employee safety.  Sales reps should be required to work with their service reps as part of equipment orientation before they are allowed to sell  or endorse products.

In fact it wouldn’t hurt to require sales reps to work in hospitals and receive proper training so that they would understand our world.  Sales reps rarely receive extended training and education on the processes associated to instrument management. 

By working with my Cardinal On-Site repair rep I gained full understanding of how instruments are made and what to teach my staff.  They also complete staff educational in-services that are interesting and productive.

 

STERIS has an innovative sterilizer cleaning method which utilizes a combination of mechanical and chemical actions to remove those green, black, and brown residues from the inside of chamber walls.  Hospitals sterilization departments should as part of the annual service contract include the cost of chamber cleaning at least once per year.

A good service rep can guide you to long term savings when dealing with OEM providers with scopes and various other instruments.  By listening to my Cardinal On-Site rep I have been able to save our hospital $56,000.00 annually on rigid scope repairs.  The education and knowledge my Cardinal On-Site repair rep has is invaluable.

Now when you get into sterilizers, OR lights, washers, and tables your equipment service rep can guide you to all kinds of savings.  They know that eventually they will have to work on a piece of equipment and they also know which ones cause the most problems and add to costly delays: in CS we cannot afford delays. 

The process can be completed on all flash and cart load sterilizers regardless of the location during normal business hours without creating workload interruptions.  No worries as to the potential of damage to the chamber when using other cleaning methods such as bead blasting or polishing and grinding.

No plastic draping to contain the mess caused while using grinders along with hoses and cables to connect all the equipment.  There STERIS process is much cleaner with less down time.

This patented process utilizes a revolutionary combination of alkaline and acid detergent cleaners, along with a specialized articulating spray nozzle. Residuals are collected in a filter cartridge, and detergent cleaners are effectively neutralized for safe disposal.

Sales reps tend to miss the details such as steam filter systems or RO water systems that need to support automated washers.  Service reps know that PM’s along with routine cleaning of a sterilizer will gain you extra years on a sterilizer and reduced downtime. 

It is also possible to add equipment from other manufacturers to your STERIS service contract.  If they can get there hands on a service manual they can order parts and fix it. 

Standardizing to one service provider reduces the number of PO’s and people that you have to deal with.  We have standardized all our CS and OR equipment to one vendor, "STERIS" and negotiated a two year contract that saved the hospital $26,000.00.

My hats off to the Cardinal On-Site V.Mueller Instrument and STERIS service reps for taking the extra steps to help our hospital provide service to the care givers at our hospital.  What they do ultimately affects patient care.

Benefits

• Provides an aesthetically pleasing sterilizer interior.
• Environmentally friendly; detergent cleaners used in process are neutralized for safe and easy disposal
• Service can be provided to any location in the hospital where 110-volt, 20-amp power is available.
• Quick, three-to five hour start-to-finish process can be performed during off-peak hours.
• Rack/shelves on 16” and 20” units are cleaned along with chamber.
• Supports daily/weekly operator cleaning guidelines with periodic process.

Applications
Service applies to the following equipment:

• 16” x 16” Radial Arm Door Sterilizers – Amsco Eagle® 3000, Amsco Eagle 2000, Medallion
• 20” x 20” Radial Arm Door Sterilizers – Amsco Eagle 3000, Amsco Eagle 2000, Medallion
• 24” x 36” Medium Radial Arm Door Sterilizers (All Chamber Depths) – Amsco Eagle 3000, Amsco Eagle 2000, Medallion
• 16” x 20” Sliding Door Century Sterilizers
• Amscomatic Washers/Sterilizers
• Loading equipment for medium-size units can be cleaned for additional fee.