Providing an effective field service is one of the key responsibilities of medical device companies.

Traditionally, field service agents have been technical support staff with little to no background in medical sciences. Today, however, there is an increasing trend toward incorporating nursing staff, particularly nurse educators, in medical device field service.

Any industry thrives on customer satisfaction, and this applies equally to medical device companies. For medical device companies, customers are typically healthcare professionals who are fully satisfied only when they are able to use a device correctly and to its maximum efficacy, and can summon support to troubleshoot problems as soon as they crop up. Hence, the need for a reliable and readily available field service that can handle problems related to medical devices quickly.

What is expected from a traditional field service?

Field service is required after the sale of medical devices and field staff from the medical device company visit customer premises—usually a hospital or clinic—for this purpose. The general expectations from a field service are:

Urodynamics (UDS) testing is usually performed in conjunction with a slew of other urologic tests and functions in concert with other diagnostics. This blog post will explore other common tests used in patients who will be having UDS testing and explains the indications and data that come from those other assessments.

            All patients who have UDS will undergo a comprehensive history, physical and laboratory testing. The history will focus on the specific urologic complaints the patient has, but also bowel issues, neurologic disorders and whatever medications the patient is on as well. Surgical history, especially related to urinary tract and anti-incontinence surgery is critical as is diet information. Lab testing will include a urinalysis to search for blood or infection, urine culture if infection is suspected, and many patients will have serum lab testing to assess kidney function.

Since urodynamics (UDS) is a relatively time consuming test, physicians who perform and interpret UDS are reliant on ancillary medical staff to perform much of the UDS study. This role is often performed by a mid-level provider, such as a nurse practitioner (NP), physician’s assistant (PA), registered nurse (RN) and even by a medical assistant or other trained technician (MA). The degree of medical knowledge needed to successfully perform a UDS test does not need to be extensive, hence providers do not need a medical or advanced degree to perform UDS; however, they do need to be proficient in setting the patient up for the test, know the key steps, know how to manage basic artifacts and when to engage the physician during a test.

As with many of the practical aspects of urodynamics (UDS) testing, the rate at which the bladder is filled during the cystometric portion of the exam influences the test results. Generally speaking, filling during UDS can be at rates below physiologic levels, at physiologic levels or at supra-physiologic levels. There are distinct pros and cons to filling at either physiologic rates or rates above that, while filling at a rate below the natural rate of bladder filling is both inefficient and unnatural.

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. 

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.  

            Proper quality control before and during urodynamics (UDS) is critical to obtaining optimal test results. There are several key maneuvers that should be performed before the study begins and in the event of issues during the test, several remedial actions that can be taken. The International Continence Society (ICS) has previously published on quality control during UDS and the work of both Blaivas and Abrams has expanded our understanding of both quality control and artifacts (Abrams, 2012). The reader should review the excellent manuscript from Abrams for further details, as much of this blog post refers to these works.

There’s no real love for waiting rooms. Call it the perpetual suspense, the white-coat syndrome lingers behind all modern chic designs. It’s time for practices to generate a greater practicality and explore deeper into human psychology behind waiting room worry.