Here's How Sysmex Is Using the Internet of Medical Things to Transform Service

Like the rest of the healthcare industry, the world of medical field service has been on a steep learning curve ever since the global COVID-19 crisis entered our lives and transformed the way we live, work, and interact with services.

We've all read about shortages of essential medical equipment such as vital ventilators in the early days of the pandemic - which makes it even more essential to keep the medical equipment we do have in peak operating condition. However, the need for social distancing means remote monitoring and service technology has now become more important than ever before.

This has, in part, given rise to the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), which takes IoT technology and creates a network of medical devices which can be monitored remotely.

Sysmex America

One brand which has been investing heavily in IoMT is Sysmex America.

Through a combination of IoMT-enabled connectivity, monitoring, and analytics, Sysmex has built a reputation for exceptional next generation medical device field service. With a spirit of relentless innovation, Sysmex America is able to support hospitals, clinics, physicians, and many other healthcare provision locations around the world with some of the most reliable and advanced hematological diagnostic technology on the market today.

Headquartered in Kobe, Sysmex America is one of the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers of complete blood count testing technology. In fact, Sysmex America technology is used to administer a massive 84% of complete blood count tests, making it an essential and indispensable part of the healthcare ecosystem.

"With our service maintenance program, we go deep inside your analyzer using analytics to make maintenance decisions," says Sysmex America on its website. "Gone is the traditional checklist approach to preventative maintenance. Because not all analyzers are the same, and required maintenance seldom lines up with a specific date or time, we can customize the actions required using evidence presented."

This transformation has been driven by the changes occurring in the healthcare industry at large. Gone are the days when traditional healthcare models saw providers renumerated for any and all services rendered. Instead, we find a shift to an outcome-based economy where compensation is based on actual clinical outcomes and patient wellness and satisfaction.

IoMT

Due to a greater demand for patient satisfaction, the need for ever more technologically sophisticated analyzer devices has grown in kind. However, with this rise in sophistication also comes a steady increase in service and maintenance costs.

Sysmex America wanted a way to provide the high level of service its customers demand while keeping costs to a minimum, which is what led the innovative brand to IoMT technology and a new way of delivering medical device field service, based on four pillars:

• Condition Monitoring - Expands capacity and product life and keeps devices operating to specification through remote, secure, and compliant digital monitoring. Allows customers to optimize product use.
• Predictive Analytics - Alerts service provider to any errors or faults at an early stage of occurrence, allowing them to be addressed and repaired before they result in costly downtime.
• Remote Service - Software patches and calibration can usually be carried out remotely and ensures devices are operating at peak performance without the need to dispatch an engineer.
• Self Service - A combination of augmented reality technology and IoMT allows Sysmex America's experts to guide customers in the proper operation of their devices as well as carrying out basic maintenance - increasing customer agency and satisfaction.

It's easy to see how these steps can keep service and maintenance operating at a high level while reducing costs. The costliest part of any service relationship is when an engineer must be physically dispatched to a location - wages, fuel costs, parts, etc. - or when a fault causes a large-scale cessation of operations. With IoMT monitoring, remote patching, and self-service functionality, these occurrences are significantly lessened, and the resultant savings can be passed onto the customer.

"With BeyondCare, every aspect of the laboratory experience has been integrated into a revolutionary platform that provides our customers with greater visibility into their systems, real-time data to create instantly actionable insights, and single-point support throughout the entire solution life-cycle," continues Sysmex America. "BeyondCare anticipates the resources you need from Sysmex and integrates them into a high-performance team that supports the way your lab operates, streamlining communications and eliminating costly layers of communication that can often contribute to analyzer downtime and work-flow issues."

Final Thoughts

The IoMT is providing new and innovative ways for medical device manufacturers and service providers to keep all important healthcare equipment running at an optimum level. With programs such as BeyondCare by Sysmex America leading the way with this technology, we can be confident that these vital machines will be around for many years to come.

You can hear Sysmex America's Director of Customer Care Operations Adan Deroche speak at Field Service Medical 2022, taking place February 28 - March 01 at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego, CA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.