Background
Hospital healthcare in Mexico is provided through a complex mix of private and public services, and alongside this mix, some employers, such as oil companies, provide hospital facilities for their workforces.
In the public sector, healthcare is variously funded (often in combination with some level of patient insurance) by the Federal Government, individual states and separate branches of the armed forces for their own personnel.
All of these institutions - private and public - have their own hospitals across the country, which between them care for a population of more than 130 million.
Anetic Aid's Distributor across Latin America (which includes Mexico, South and Central America) is Kenkar Limited, and one of its owners, Todd Newell, has long worked in the region - gaining a reputation as a supplier of high calibre medical products, particularly for operating theatres (OR).
He was originally impressed by the quality and innovation of his UK partner's QA3 and QA4 stretchers - but it was the launch of the AT4™ Electronic Tourniquet System back in 2012 that had significant impact, both for his team and his customers.
Approach
Explained Todd: ' From the start, we felt the AT4 would make an excellent addition to our range of medical equipment in Mexico. It meant we could offer the country's healthcare providers a new, innovative, high-quality product that was very easy to use.
'Particularly significant was the fact that we decided to offer in-country support and aftercare - and that was where Anetic Aid played a huge part in giving us the skills and knowledge we needed.'
Kenkar works through partner businesses, which in Mexico is dedicated medical supply company Instrumentacion Medica, SA de CV, so the first stage was to provide its sales team members with training so that they would fully understand all the product's features and benefits.
International Sales Manager at the time, Mike Pritchett, visited both the capital, Mexico City, and Monterrey in the industrial north to demonstrate the equipment, and he accompanied company representatives on visits to their customers - a kind of hospital roadshow - so they could see the commitment of the company to supporting its equipment in the country.
He also met with the body which regulates medical devices in Mexico, ensuring there would be no problems with the export/import paperwork when shipments started to arrive.
This trip was followed by visits by Todd and members of his team to Anetic Aid's manufacturing base in Havant on the UK's south coast to see where equipment was designed and built.
Another significant step in developing the relationship was a training mission by Anetic Aid's Product Manager Mark Lee to Mexico to run workshops with groups of technicians on how the equipment should be serviced and repaired.
As recognition of the product has grown, some of the key aspects that hospital personnel say they appreciate are:
EASE OF USE - very intuitive with positive-feel push buttons and dials
LONG BATTERY LIFE - the machine doesn't need to be running constantly, so it is quiet when not in operation
INTEGRATED SOLUTION - one sleek, built-for-purpose unit, so no need for a separate cart
PRICE - seen as value for money across the sector
ACCESSORIES - Anetic Aid provides all the items required for tourniquet operation, including reusable cuffs which are less bulky than other brands and require only single hoses (which can be supplied with a length of 3.5m) per channel.
And above all, there is the support: servicing and repairs in-country, with loan machines to ensure no valuable theatre (OR) time is lost waiting for parts or technical input, is seen as a gold standard of aftercare by both healthcare practitioners and procurement teams alike.
Outcome
There are now more than 50 AT4s in use across the full range of hospital facilities in Mexico.
Said Todd: 'We know that customers are very aware of the special features which make the product unique, not least because we are starting to see some of these aspects specified in tenders, particularly those for the public sector.
'There is no doubt that the support we can offer has added a lot of value - there are only a few manufacturers globally anyway, and none of them in Latin America. Our customers like the fact we have a direct relationship with Anetic Aid, but it is because we carry stock, and spare units that we can swap in while carrying out repairs, that we really stand out'.
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