BHN Healthcare Blog

In any urology practice, critical questions related to what services to offer, who will provide them and where the services will be performed are the foundation of practice management. When establishing or managing a practice, one decision you must make is whether urodynamics (UDS) is a foundational and core offering the practice will offer or an ancillary service. As with many things in urology, the answer is not straightforward and in reality, it is a little bit of both, though I tend to think of UDS as an ancillary service for most practices.

Core services urologists must offer include basic history and examination ability, cystoscopy and access to and interpretation of relevant lab and/or radiologic studies of the urinary tract. A urologist who cannot offer these basic services is really not practicing urology. UDS is an important test that urologists offer; however, a urology practice can exist without offering UDS and still thrive.

 

The effective provision of medical device field service is not a simple process to optimize. There are many factors that influence operations, from resources and technology to staff management and coordination. Field service organizations that keep track of all of these different factors manage to provide a seamless and efficient service and keep their customers satisfied.

But no business is perfect from the get-go. In most cases, a period of trial and error is unavoidable while getting a grasp of the intricacies of running and managing field service operations, especially when it comes to medical devices. Being aware of the most common mistakes made in the delivery of field service support can significantly shorten the learning curve.

 

With that in mind, here are some of the most common errors that medical device field service organizations commit while providing and managing their service:

Urodynamics (UDS) testing is a critical tool for the urologist managing voiding dysfunction and incontinence.

 

Like all tests, there are certain scenarios where the results are more helpful than others and times when using a test is critical.

 

This blog posts explores several key situations when UDS is a critical test to consider.

 

Field service management is a vital part of any organization's business strategy. No business can enjoy continued success without providing high-quality field service, while a remarkably good field service raises customer satisfaction and brand reputation. Offering a great field service not only removes the risk of tarnishing the brand image that goes along with a poor service, but it also increases customer loyalty and revenue as a consequence.

Background

A Medical Device: Field Service - Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contractual agreement between a field service provider (“Service Provider”) and a Customer (typically a medical device company) that contains the terms and conditions that govern how the Service Provider will perform field service tasks for the Customer; how the parties will communicate with one another; how the parties will modify the agreement over time to fit their ongoing business relationship; how the Customer will pay the Service Provider; and all other details governing the relationship between the parties. 

Bringing a new medical device to the market is a Herculean task. It requires all of the standard start up work such as determining product market fit, product design, manufacturing and production, marketing message, and much more. In addition to these, since it is a medical device it requires layers and layers of FDA approval, which is akin to hiking up a mountain carrying an 800-pound backpack.

Once a startup medical device company gets beyond its FDA approval, it must determine how to best sell and deploy its medical device into the field. This requires much more than just hiring sales reps. Such companies have to figure out how to get their device installed, have customer staff members trained on how to use it, and service it once it is in place. All of this equates to complicated logistics and scaling difficulties.

This video covers:

• General Overview
• Status Lights
• Buttons used for troubleshooting
• Changing the battery

 

While our blog is typically rather serious, we thought we would switch gears, have a little fun, and post a few jokes about urology. Hopefully they will make you smile.  

National listing of the largest urogynecology practices operating within the U.S.

Urogynecology practices across the U.S. have changed considerably over the last decade. Many practices have merged and increased in size in order to be more competitive and deal the complexities of insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid reimbursements. Additionally, these practices have starting taking on more diagnostic and treatment services that were traditionally done in hospital settings. These services include minor surgeries, CT scans, urodynamics testing, and more. A listing of the largest urogynecology practices in the U.S. is provided below: