Independent service organizations are expanding their role to meet the changing demands of healthcare technology management.
By Alyx Arnett
Independent service organizations (ISOs) have long supported healthcare with break-fix repairs, but many are now playing a bigger role. As the needs of healthcare technology management (HTM) grow more complex, some ISOs are offering expanded services and deeper collaboration.
“Today’s independent service organizations must offer a broader skill set to support the evolving healthcare environment,” says Barbara Maguire, vice president of quality and engineering at ISS Solutions, an ISO based in Pennsylvania.
Sandy Morford, chief commercial officer and a founder of Renovo Solutions, a national ISO, has seen this shift unfold over more than four decades. “It really has gone from a very basic, fundamental break-fix mentality into a wide-ranging, multi-vendor range of equipment,” he says. “Customers are looking for more than break-fix, and they have been for quite some time.”
Here are five ways today’s ISOs are moving beyond reactive repairs to meet modern demands.
1. Preventive to Predictive Maintenance
More customers are beginning to turn to ISOs for preventative and predictive maintenance as healthcare organizations are under growing pressure to keep equipment running. “Downtime is no longer acceptable,” says Maguire. “Hospitals rely on equipment being consistently available for patient care.”
Steve Keith, CBET, CET, who founded Georgia-based Medical Maintenance in 1982, estimates that preventive maintenance has grown from 30% to about 60% of his company’s billing over time.
To meet this demand, some ISOs are refining how they deliver preventive service by incorporating predictive capabilities. At TIBS: The Intuitive Biomedical Solution, an ISO based in Arkansas, technicians follow a proprietary five-point inspection process—including resistance and leakage testing—for each part used. They also review device error logs to identify issues before they lead to failure. “It’s necessary that you have preventative maintenance set up, but you also have other things set up by way of making sure that you identify what could be possibly an early life failure,” says CEO Terrence Mack.
Renovo Solutions uses remote service diagnostics powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor real-time error codes from connected medical devices. “It starts telling us things like, ‘In the next 30 days, that X-ray tube is going to fail,’” says Morford.
At ISS Solutions, remote monitoring platforms provide real-time visibility into device performance. Maguire says that layering on tools like integrated ticketing systems, CMMS platforms, and asset management analytics helps streamline service workflows and generate actionable insights. “We’ve integrated these technologies into our service delivery to offer clients faster response times and greater visibility across the equipment lifecycle,” she says.
Key Takeaway: As hospitals emphasize uptime and risk reduction, some ISOs are expanding from routine preventive maintenance to predictive strategies—using tools like error log analysis, AI diagnostics, and remote monitoring to identify issues earlier and improve equipment reliability.
2. Cybersecurity Software Management
As medical devices become more connected, HTM teams are increasingly expected to manage cybersecurity risks, but they don’t always have the bandwidth or specialized expertise to do it alone, says Renovo Solutions’ Morford. In response, some ISOs are expanding their support to include medical device cybersecurity.
Renovo Solutions, for example, assists health systems in managing cybersecurity tools—such as those from ORDR or Asimily—that scan networks for vulnerabilities in connected equipment. “When that software tool identifies a vulnerability, the software tool cannot fix that vulnerability,” Morford says. “A human person, a biomed tech with some IT skill, needs to go out and do what needs to be done to resolve that vulnerability.”
This hands-on remediation—patching software, replacing outdated components, and applying network protections—is often where HTM teams need backup. With thousands of networked devices in hospitals, it’s not always feasible for in-house teams to keep pace with every alert, Morford says.
ISS Solutions also offers medical equipment cybersecurity program management. “Today’s independent service organizations must offer a broader skill set to support the evolving healthcare environment,” says Maguire. That includes cybersecurity, she notes, as part of the larger need for “proactive, integrated support across clinical, IT, and technical systems.”
Key Takeaway: As medical devices become more connected, some HTM teams are turning to ISOs for added capacity and technical support, particularly when vulnerabilities demand urgent, specialized response.
3. Specialized Equipment Support
While many in-house HTM teams can handle a range of devices, some types of equipment require a level of specialization that makes outsourcing more practical. ISOs are stepping in to support equipment categories that often fall outside the day-to-day focus of hospital biomeds.
Medical Maintenance intentionally takes on equipment often avoided by in-house staff due to time or complexity. “We look for things that are not ’sexy’ or that are difficult that your average hospital biomedical, for instance, would not want to touch because of the amount of time it takes,” says Keith. One example: aquatic rehabilitation equipment like underwater treadmills. “They’re extremely physically and technologically difficult to learn,” he says.
Renovo Solutions’ Morford points to endoscopes as another example of equipment that often requires outside support. “Many of them have to subcontract that work to a specialized company that does it or send it back to the manufacturer. So one unique service offering is that we are in the flexible and rigid endoscope repair business,” he says.
Offering specialized equipment support under one umbrella can help simplify vendor management and improve turnaround times, particularly for devices that often require separate service arrangements, says Morford.
Key Takeaway: As in-house teams prioritize high-acuity equipment, some healthcare organizations are turning to ISOs to support specialty or ancillary devices that fall outside routine coverage.
4. Custom Contracts
As health systems seek more predictable costs, streamlined vendor management, and broader expertise, some ISOs are offering customized service partnerships.
At TIBS, contracts are built around the needs of each facility, with an emphasis on minimizing delays and reducing disruptions to care. “We talk to our clients and identify what their needs are, and we make a contract specifically geared to those needs,” says Mack. He adds that quick turnaround is a common client priority, and technicians can typically complete repairs within 24 hours of a machine going down.
He adds that providing support across multiple equipment types can also help reduce the number of vendors a facility needs to manage.
ISS Solutions is seeing growing interest in performance-based contracts tied to KPIs like uptime and responsiveness. “As technology evolves and becomes more integrated into patient care, healthcare providers need service models that are smarter, faster, and more aligned with their long-term operational and clinical objectives,” says Maguire.
Key Takeaway: Some ISOs offer customized service agreements and contracts tied to performance metrics, shifting away from one-size-fits-all models.
5. On-Demand Tech Deployment
Many HTM departments are short-staffed or stretched across multiple sites—and the problem is only growing. “A lot of the older people in the field that have been around for 25, 30, 35 years are retiring, and there’s not enough young people entering the biomed field to replace them,” says Morford.
To help hospitals manage those gaps, Renovo Solutions offers on-demand technician deployment. The company maintains a team of roughly 150 traveling biomedical and imaging service technicians who can be temporarily placed into hospitals and health systems facing vacancies.
“When a hospital calls us and says, ‘One of our biomed techs is going on extended medical leave for six months, can you rent us one of your traveling biomed techs for six months on demand?’ we will deploy those technicians and engineers to hospitals and health systems that have a vacancy that needs to be filled,” Morford says.
Key Takeaway: For HTM teams dealing with staffing gaps or hiring delays, on-demand technician deployment offers an option for maintaining coverage when internal resources are stretched.
Beyond the Break-Fix
What used to be a transactional relationship—calling in a vendor when something broke—is becoming more collaborative. “The traditional break-fix model, while once sufficient, poses significant limitations in today’s complex healthcare technology environments,” says ISS Solutions’ Maguire. “Forward-thinking health systems will increasingly rely on…ISOs…to bridge knowledge gaps and deliver unified, hybrid support models across the enterprise.”
Looking ahead, Maguire sees ISOs growing in areas like technology assessment, capital planning, and cybersecurity risk mitigation. TIBS’ Mack believes that increasing demand for qualified HTM engineers will continue to drive interest in ISO partnerships, while Keith of Medical Maintenance expects the market to shift even further toward specialized equipment that in-house teams may not have the time or resources to manage.
“This approach not only ensures consistent, high-quality service but also supports broader initiatives such as system-wide standardization, automation, and the adoption of transformative technologies like AI,” says Maguire.
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