Getinge, InterMed Relationship Enhances Value, Boosts Customer Offerings

It isn’t every day where a prominent original equipment manufacturer and a leading third party technology firm actively seek to align forces  and pursue a business relationship. But when operational goals and business philosophies are as closely aligned as Getinge’s and InterMed’s, it doesn’t take long to realize that such a Relationship just may become a marriage made in healthcare service heaven.
For InterMed Inc., the Alachua, FL-based technology management firm, the decision to partner with the world’s leading manufacturer of sterilization/disinfection equipment and surgical products was a logical one. InterMed began relying on Getinge USA in 2004 to provide sterilization services for some of its existing biomed accounts and was pleased with the OEM’s commitment to quality, customer service and pricing.

“They did a great job and customers were extremely satisfied with Getinge’s work. We saw a niche there,” explained Danny Hamm, Vice President of sales for InterMed’s BioMed Division. “Getinge fulfilled a need in an area where we didn’t provide service. We wanted to offer our accounts as many quality services as we could, so I got in touch with Getinge to discuss our options.”

The meeting was a resounding success and by early 2006 a relationship between both companies was being formalized. Like InterMed, Getinge saw the relationship as a logical extension to its existing service offering – with the main driving force behind the relationship being the companies’ like-minded business approach.

“Both InterMed and Getinge are in sync in the way they do business and in their commitment to quality customer service,” said Charles Burrage, Corporate Accounts Service Manager, Getinge USA, Rochester, NY. “Reaching out to quality third party companies like InterMed just made sense.”

Here Hamm and Burrage offer additional insight into what makes the Getinge-InterMed relationship so successful, how customers are benefiting from the melding of services and what the future holds for the dynamic duo.

You both credit similar business goals and philosophies as the key factor behind this relationship. Can you elaborate a bit on how InterMed and Getinge –two very different types of companies – are so closely aligned?

Burrage: Companies sometimes lose the fact that they’re really there to support the customer. Although we do have to make a profit, we need to keep the customer focus in mind. If we do that, we’ll be successful. That’s something that both Getinge and InterMed recognize. The strong customer focus is there and so is our drive to do the right thing. Everything we’ve ever done with InterMed has been above and beyond our expectations.

Reaching out to quality third party companies like InterMed makes sense because we’re sharing some of the same issues. InterMed services certain types of products, but doesn’t have the capability or desire to go beyond that, and the same goes for Getinge. We have to partner with biomeds, to a certain degree, but we don’t want to be in the biomed business. That’s just not our specialty. Still, our goal is to meet our customers’ needs by offering a broader range of services. If we work with a facility that does not have an inhouse biomedical staff – or one that needs some biomedical work done and needs someone to step in and fill that void – it can be a win-win for everyone involved if we can partner with a quality company that can fill those needs. Because of our relationship with InterMed, we can get a lead on a surgery center and go in and bid on the whole thing together, offering a more comprehensive product and service portfolio. The bottom line is we believe in them and they believe in us. We have that trust. It’s like a marriage: both companies are well suited to one another and they share similar ideas, philosophies and goals. It just works.

It’s important to point out, though, that we’re not going out and working with just any third party company. We only want to partner with companies that fit our mold and InterMed does that. Our customers are the most important part of our business. For us to put our reputation on the line, we have to have full confidence in the company we’re recommending and partnering with.

Hamm: Getinge is probably the only company that I’ve sat across the table with -- in any modality – that truly has the same philosophy as InterMed. That philosophy revolves around absolutely, positively doing the right thing and doing whatever it takes to make the customer happy. InterMed has never lost a single customer in the almost 15 years we’ve been in business. It’s not because we fix equipment better than anyone else. It’s because of the way we treat our customers. If you do the right thing, it’ll come back to you. Getinge operates under that same premise. If you align yourself with a company or companies that feel the same way then it’s just that much more powerful.

How, specifically, has this relationship benefited your business?

Hamm: It’s benefited us a couple of ways. With our current accounts that we’re not doing sterilization for, we’re able to revisit them and explain that because of our relationship with Getinge we can now offer the same level of quality with sterilization that they’ve come to expect on the biomed side. From another perspective, I’m able to call on some surgery centers that are using Getinge for sterilization but are using someone else for their biomed services. Obviously, they’re extremely happy with Getinge, so that gives us an opportunity to showcase our abilities. We recently had one encounter with a facility where Getinge recommended us and one of our guys was able to solve a huge problem in two hours that their biomeds hadn’t been able to solve for six months. Both Getinge and InterMed benefit, but the customers are the ones who benefit even more. This relationship is allowing us to add more value and services to our accounts.

Burrage: Again, it really is about doing the right thing. From the Getinge perspective, we are committed to taking on more of a consultative role. We don’t want to be just a vendor that sells parts, service and equipment. We want to be a consultant that partners with hospitals. If we don’t have the expertise in a certain area, we won’t give advice. That’s where InterMed fits in so well. If a facility has biomedical service needs, we won’t go in and try to fulfill that role, but we can let them know that we have a partner who is an expert in that area and is committed to quality. This consultative role, where we are able to recommend a quality partner who will do the right thing for the customer, enhances our image in the marketplace.

What does the future hold for this relationship?

Burrage: At Getinge, we have a huge surgical initiative. The surgical suite is a very strong focus for us, with our primary focus being on small hospitals and surgery centers. InterMed can work hand-in-hand with us in that initiative. Many times, it’s an all or nothing deal, where a facility only wants to partner with a company that can meet all their needs. While we don’t have the biomed capability, we do have the partner that has that expertise, which allows us to go in and do a total bid for the entire package.

Hamm: I can tell you that we’re definitely focused on growth. We’ve never been a company to go hire a bunch of people and then hope to get the work. We go out and get the business and then hire the people. Because of this relationship, we can bring a larger package to the table. Our goal for biomed is to run hospitals’ entire inhouse clinical engineering program, and when we do that, our goal is to have Getinge with us doing all the sterilization. Customers can also be confident that they’re getting a very good price. Through our relationship with Getinge we can offer the service to the customer at more of a savings than if they called Getinge directly.