How Operational Excellence and Service Oversight Build Trust in Biotechnology

In regulated industries like biotechnology and healthcare, service performance directly impacts patient outcomes and organizational survival.

At Field Service Medical 2025 in San Diego, industry leaders gathered to share how they've built trust through rigorous service oversight and operational discipline. Their experiences offer valuable lessons for anyone managing service providers in regulated environments.

This article examines real case studies and expert perspectives from the conference. The patterns that emerge reveal how leading organizations turn service oversight from a compliance burden into a competitive advantage.

Why Service Oversight Is Critical Financially

Healthcare organizations operate on razor-thin margins that make every dollar of service spend critical. Ryan Koos, former Chief Supply Chain Officer at Sharp HealthCare, shared the stark financial reality facing his organization and others like it:

"We barely have an operating margin. Most hospitals are lucky to be in the green. Right now, we have to address service spend, or we will not exist, period. It's easily 50% or 60% of our spending, so it needs to be strategically aligned.”

Most hospitals struggle to remain profitable in an environment of rising costs and constrained reimbursements. This financial pressure has transformed how healthcare executives view service relationships and vendor management.

Service as a Survival Strategy

When service has such a significant financial impact, it cannot be managed at the departmental level. It requires executive leadership, system-wide governance, and strategic planning that looks years into the future. Organizations that fail to manage service spend strategically put their entire operation at risk.

This reality has driven a shift from site-level service decisions to enterprise-wide oversight. Healthcare systems now demand transparency from service providers: detailed performance data, cost breakdowns, and clear alignment with organizational goals.

The Connection to Biotech Operations

The financial pressure in healthcare mirrors challenges in biotech manufacturing.

These organizations manage complex service provider relationships involving regulated cleaning practices, facility management, and production support services. These contracts often run into the millions of dollars and require strategic oversight.

Leaders must balance cost management with uncompromising quality standards. Their work in developing statements of purpose (SOPs), managing multi-million-dollar contracts, and onboarding consultants directly parallels the challenges healthcare supply chain leaders face.

Case Study: Transforming Crisis into Loyalty Through Operational Excellence

At Field Service Medical 2025, Hogie Saunders, Chief Customer Satisfaction Officer at medical imaging company OrthoScan, explained how the organization turned a frustrating problem into an example of operational excellence.

A Bay Area office-based lab (OBL) performing critical vascular procedures experienced intermittent equipment issues that threatened their surgical schedule. The lab's administrator grew increasingly frustrated as weeks of investigation failed to resolve the problem.

The Approach: Communication and Root Cause Analysis

Saunders took personal responsibility for the relationship. Rather than treat the issue as a warranty claim or technical support ticket, he recognized it as a test of organizational character.

He maintained consistent communication with the administrator throughout the investigation, even when he had no new solutions to offer.

The OrthoScan team methodically worked through potential causes. They reviewed installation procedures, examined environmental factors, and analyzed usage patterns.

When they finally identified a firmware issue, they developed a fix and implemented it across their customer base. The technical solution mattered, but the organization’s relationship management during the crisis proved even more valuable.

The Outcome: From Frustrated Customer to Loyal Advocate

The administrator's response validated OrthoScan's approach.

"I’m not a transactional person; it’s the relationship that matters,” they told the audience at Field Service Medical 2025.

"If things aren’t going well, we all need to be able to count on someone, and we need to know what to expect from them. The only way to know what to expect is to live through it.”

The administrator went further, stating that when their organization expanded its facility or opened new centers, OrthoScan would be its first choice.

Their team had seen how the company behaved under pressure. That knowledge was worth more than any sales presentation or contractual guarantee.

Lessons for Service Provider Oversight

This case study illustrates principles that apply across healthcare and biotech service environments.

First, relationships matter more during crises than during normal operations. How a service provider responds to problems reveals their true character and organizational competence.

Second, communication cannot be outsourced to automated systems.

The administrator needed to hear from a decision-maker who could commit resources and take responsibility. Email updates and case numbers don't build trust in the way human accountability does.

Third, root cause analysis and permanent fixes demonstrate operational maturity. The firmware correction showed that OrthoScan viewed this not as one customer's problem but as a systematic issue requiring a systematic solution.

Case Study: Systematic Service Oversight at Enterprise Scale

Sharp HealthCare, a billion-dollar health system serving San Diego County, recognized that its fragmented service management strategy was unsustainable. With 21,000 employees across multiple facilities, the health system had allowed individual sites to manage their own service relationships.

This created redundancy, inconsistent terms, and missed opportunities for system-wide improvements.

The Transformation: From Site-Led to System-Wide Governance

Ryan Koos led the transformation to centralized service oversight. Sharp HealthCare implemented a governance structure that brought service decisions to the system level. This change required executive buy-in and the willingness to override long-standing site-level relationships.

The new approach included several key elements:

• Vendor scorecarding: Sharp HealthCare developed metrics to evaluate service provider performance across reliability, responsiveness, and value delivery. Vendors now receive regular performance reviews based on objective data.
• Strategic sourcing planning: The organization now plans service contracts with a five-year outlook, considering not just current needs but anticipated changes in technology and care delivery models.
• Executive leadership involvement: Koos and other senior leaders participate directly in major service relationships, signaling the strategic importance of these partnerships.

Scalable Frameworks for Service Excellence

Sharp HealthCare's experience demonstrates that service oversight scales through systematic processes, not just by adding more staff.

The scorecarding system works whether evaluating ten vendors or a hundred. The governance structure adapts as the organization grows or changes.

For biotech service leaders, this case study offers a blueprint. Whether managing service providers or integrated facilities contracts, the same principles apply:

• Define clear performance expectations
• Measure vendor performance objectively
• Maintain executive visibility into strategic service relationships

Building Trust Through Customer-Centric Service Oversight

The case studies and expert insights from Field Service Next Medical reveal a common theme: trust flows from genuine engagement with customer needs. Service providers and internal service leaders who prioritize stakeholder input outperform those who don't.

Dr. Alana Arnold, former Director for Pediatric Emergency Medicine at St. Luke's University Healthcare Network, emphasized this point from the customer's perspective:

"Talk with your clients and customers as much as possible. Very often, I'll see decisions being made, but the people who are actually going to use the device or equipment weren't even involved. It’s crucial to be agile and dynamic, and to respond to the customer and client.”

The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement

Service decisions made without end-user input often fail to address real-world needs. A service schedule that looks efficient on paper may disrupt clinical workflows. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) cleaning protocols that meet GMP requirements may create practical difficulties for production staff if those staff weren't consulted during development.

Leading service organizations involve stakeholders early and often. They recognize that the people who use equipment daily understand operational realities that executives and service managers may miss. This engagement takes time, but it prevents costly mistakes and builds buy-in for service initiatives.

Agility and Responsiveness in Service Delivery

Customer needs change as technology evolves and care delivery models shift. Service oversight must be dynamic enough to accommodate these changes without compromising compliance or quality.

Organizations that build agility into their service frameworks can respond quickly when customers identify problems or request modifications.

This agility requires service providers to maintain open communication channels and decision-making authority at appropriate levels. When field technicians or service coordinators can adjust approaches based on customer feedback, without requiring multiple approval layers, service becomes more responsive and effective.

Moving Beyond Compliance to Relationship Building

Compliance creates the foundation, but relationships sustain long-term success. The most effective service oversight programs integrate compliance requirements into broader relationship management strategies.

They view audits and documentation not as burdens but as opportunities to demonstrate competence and reliability.

This perspective aligns with the development of SOPs and training programs in biotech environments.

Well-designed SOPs don't just satisfy regulatory requirements—they create consistent service experiences that build customer confidence. Training programs that emphasize both technical competence and customer communication develop service professionals who can navigate complex situations while maintaining trust.

Maintaining Excellence in an Evolving Industry

The insights from Field Service Next Medical 2025 point to a clear conclusion: service oversight done well creates differentiation in crowded markets. Healthcare and biotech organizations face no shortage of service providers and internal service management challenges.

What separates leaders from followers is the systematic approach to building trust through operational excellence.

OrthoScan's customer didn't stay loyal because of price or product features. They stayed because they had witnessed the company's character under pressure.

Sharp HealthCare didn't transform its service spend trajectory through better negotiations alone. They succeeded by implementing governance structures that elevated service to a strategic priority.

Your service oversight program reveals your organization's values and competence to everyone watching. This includes customers, regulators, and the patients who ultimately depend on your work. Make it worthy of their trust.