Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld signs ten-year radiology agreement with Siemens

11 August 2011

German hospital operator Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld (EvKB) has signed a ten-year partnership agreement with Siemens Healthcare to provide and maintain a new radiology suite with the latest equipment in order to provide optimal care for patients.

The provisioning model agreed between the two partners provides for Siemens to assist its customer with project planning and the optimization of treatment flows, to supply the necessary medical systems and to teach hospital employees how to use the new equipment.

Siemens is also taking on responsibility for the maintenance of all of the EvKB's medical equipment. Thanks to a flexible financing model designed by Siemens’ Financial Services division (SFS), the hospital operator can look forward to having the latest technology at its disposal at all times for the whole of the next ten years.

Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld is one of the largest hospitals in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. When EvKB decided to expand the hospital and its radiology department, it set out to find a strategic partner capable not only of supplying innovative medical systems, but also of helping it to remain competitive over the long term. It ended up opting for the Siemens provisioning model, for which it has signed a ten-year partnership agreement.

The provisioning model encompasses management of the maintenance of more than 8000 items of medical equipment from some 300 different manufacturers as well as consulting services in relation to the optimization of clinical workflows and continuous training in equipment and software.

Also included is an innovation concept that will enable the EvKB to keep its equipment pool completely up to date with the latest technical developments over the coming ten years through a combination of updates, upgrades and exchanges for next-generation systems. Designed around monthly usage rates for the equipment, the financing concept can be adapted flexibly to the customer's requirements during the ten-year period and gives the hospital a reliable basis for the next decade's planning activities.

The agreement additionally covers the supply and implementation of more than 80 medical systems ranging from large devices like a CT scanner and a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance tomography unit to 30 ultrasound systems and the Syngo.via imaging software.

"The innovation concept was a key element of the contract for us along with the equipment purchases. Technology marches on and we, as a leader in a number of fields, want to make sure that we still have the latest facilities in the relevant fields in ten years' time. We decided to go for a full-service contract to ensure that the equipment is always properly maintained and ready to use.

We need to optimize our workflow, which is why we also opted for consulting services. And we need employees who know how to use all our advanced new devices. In short, it made sense for us to take up the entire package. Few companies can provide all of this and we were keen to have everything from a single source," recounts EvKB Managing Director Dr. Heiner Meyer zu Lösebeck.

"Innovation cycles have grown shorter in healthcare just as in other areas. Our provisioning model is intended to help customers keep up with the latest technology so that they can always offer their
patients innovative medical care," explains Wolfgang Bayer, Head of Siemens Germany, Healthcare Sector.