by
Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | October 06, 2016
After announcing in May that it was going to become the only authorized parts and service provider for GE Healthcare's bone mineral densitometry (BMD) business, yesterday Alpha Source completed the deal.
Going forward, the Milwaukee-based health care technology management company will oversee the installation, warranty and post-warranty servicing of GE Healthcare's BMD equipment. Its partnership with the OEM goes back at least as far as 2014 when it started servicing select GE Healthcare ultrasound products.
"Alpha Source provides a trusted service solution for GE Healthcare's BMD and selected ultrasound products," Rick Lytle, CEO of Alpha Source,
told HCB News in June. "The national network of trained field service engineers will be supplemented with depot repair operations in Milwaukee to support this growing multi-modal installed base of imaging equipment."
GE Healthcare will continue to design and manufacture BMD equipment and will maintain service in geographies outside the U.S.
"GE worked very closely with Alpha Source over the past six months to ensure a seamless transition of services to our BMD customers. Alpha Source is equipped with the training, documentation, tools and parts to deliver great service," said Rob Reilly, vice president and general manager, U.S. & Canada Service, GE Healthcare, in a statement accompanying completion of the deal.
The arrangement between GE and Alpha Source is unique in the medical equipment industry in that the OEM is turning over U.S. service entirely while remaining a manufacturer of the equipment.
Alpha Source has been one of the INC 5000 fastest-growing companies for the past five years. Lytle counts the company's core objectives as helping health care organizations by offering solutions that extend the life of medical equipment, reduce equipment costs of ownership, and support improved patient care.
Established in 1986, Alpha Source is an ISO13485:2003-certified and FDA-registered medical device manufacturer with an emphasis on medical equipment service and biomed parts distribution and logistics.
"Our just-in-time (JIT) capability results in next-day service on most parts shipments, even hard-to-find parts. This enables Alpha Source to provide faster response to maximize bone densitometry equipment uptime," added Lytle.
Despite ongoing reimbursement cuts since 2007, a
Transparency Market Research report from Februaryfound that the market is expected to jump from $778 million in 2012 to $909 million by 2019, mostly due to the growing geriatric population.
Other factors fueling the market are the increased risk of osteoporosis among menopausal women, the high occurrence of vitamin D deficiency diseases, and advanced technology that is expected to contribute to the growth of the market in the next few years.
