Biomed vs manufacturer

[RNSHAMBLS]

Do your facilities use the hospital Biomed departments to service & repair autoclaves or the manufacturers repair services?

[bonbon]

RNSHAMBLS: I prefer the manufacture of the units. We have contracts with the autoclave company that covers every repair we have done. As long as we use them Monday-Friday normal business hours, there is no added cost.
I have a good working repore with our maintenance man for the autoclaves and there our times we trouble shoot the problem over the phone. He is in tune to our hospital and does regular pm's. He gets the right parts and is an expert at fixing our sterilizers.
We have an older washer and rely on the maintenance department to fix it. Depending on their schedule depends on when we get them fixed. There is really only one person who is fully trained to do the maintenance and if he's on vacation, we are out of luck! Thank- fully, we will be replacing the washers and I will make sure they our under manufacturers contracts this time. You may have a totally different set up where you work, but I would check it out thoroughly before making a decision. Good Luck :)

[Harvey Johnson]

When I arrived at this facility, they were using a combination of the engineering dept as well as an outside contract repair person (actually a retired hospital engineer) to repair the autoclaves as well as a couple of old washers. The amount of service calls and down time was incredible as we continually had to wait for parts and hope the person attempting the repair got it right the first time...... usually they didn't. Preventative maintenance never happened.
At the end of the fiscal year, I was able to compare the cost of in house repair with that of a manufacturer's service contract.
We would have saved 14% the previous year with service contracts.
Now with the contracts in place we have less down time, maintenance is performed on time and our in house engineers are happy not to have the responsibility.

[chipmoore]

To quote Betty Strickland, you can pay for up time or pay for down time. Equipment Mfg service reps are trained on the equipment and have resources for added help. Generally, customers are happier when the Mfg provides the routine maintenance. Of course, the level of training for a specific Mfg service rep can vary and as can the infra-structure that supports the rep.
Chip Moore
Rochester, NY
Retired but involved

[barry govenor]

Chip: I have no comment on the above but was wondering if you could help me with another item. On the original format of the discussion forum I thought I remembered a link to a global discussion forum. To the best of my recollection thie acronym was EFFS or something similar. I have stumbled across this site a couple of times but neglected to write down the address or the link that got me there. As there is a wealth of information on that discussion forum also, I would appreciate you sending the address to me via our discussion forum. Thanks in advance.

Barry -Pittsburgh Pa

[chipmoore]

Hi Barry,
City of champions. Phillie? NYC? Dallas? Peoria? I know it isn't Buffalo (Hockey or football)

Here's the link, check their Q&A section.

http://www.efhss.com/html/members.htm

Chip Moore
Rochester, NY
Retired but involved

[barry govenor]

Chip,

Finally found the link you gave me just the other day. Sent the info to IAHCSMM to see if they could put it in a more convenient place.

Thanks for your efforts on my behalf.

Barry-Pittsburgh Pa

[iowa gal]

I am a firm believer in having the manufacturer’s rep service and repair sterilizers. They are factory trained and qualified, have the correct parts on hand or get them shipped in overnight. If they have problems figuring out what is wrong they have contacts that they can call. Hospital Biomed or Engineering staff have so many different pieces and types of equipment that they need to maintain so you may be on a waiting list or it might take more then one attempt to get the sterilizers back up and running.

[autoclave1]

I went from a MFG rep to an ISO. MFG's hated me since I provided a higher quality of service and had more experience then the majority of their "younger" generation. I am now a facility manager and still the "go to guy" when there is a problem. The newer generation of service technicians are more electronic based and not mechanically proficient. There is something to be said about the individual whom is not afraid of getting filthy rebuilding a door, not afraid of tackling a 2 inch steam line under 100 PSI, working in a mechanical room that is over 100 degrees for several hours, and still connected to the trade by becoming a CRCST and a member of IAHCSMM.

[Brenda]

We use the manufacturer and have annual service contracts. With the PMA service, it does limit our down time, as they are proactive in keeping us operational and having parts on hand.