Managing medical equipment in today’s healthcare facilities is more complicated than ever. Increasing specialization and sophistication of devices, dependence on external vendors for specialized maintenance and repair work, and integration with electronic networks all mean that effective maintenance management requires an in-house team of highly qualified biomedical engineers.
This team will maximize equipment uptime, safety, and performance at a reasonable cost without the delay of having to contact an original equipment manufacturer.
Increased Uptime
Keeping up with medical technology requires skilled and experienced biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs). BMETs know hospital machinery and understand how to disassemble, reassemble and repair all types of equipment.
They also know how to identify equipment trends and prioritize maintenance needs based on meaningful data. Taking this high-level view allows them to create an alternative equipment management plan (AEM) for the facility, which could include increasing or decreasing preventive maintenance intervals for certain devices based on a risk analysis.
Having in-house BMETs minimizes outsourced repair costs, increases uptime and optimizes equipment performance. When selecting a company, consider core values like reliability and customer service to ensure your facility gets the most value from its repair investments. Then, you can rest easy knowing that your healthcare professionals and patients always get the best care possible.
Reduced Downtime
Medical equipment downtime can lead to lost revenue, missed appointments, and patient care delays. Whether due to power outages, equipment malfunctions or cybersecurity breaches, healthcare facilities must ensure that their technology works correctly.
Health facilities can run reports to identify issues by manufacturer and find the most common triggers for recurring problems. They can also analyze and benchmark their maintenance programs for performance and cost efficiency using data analytics. Having skilled in-house biomedical equipment repair Houston TX reduces costs and time to resolution by eliminating the need to wait for OEM service calls and reducing device replacement expenses. The right EAM solution can also improve maintenance practices and help facilities optimize their devices for performance, safety, and reliability. Streamlined prioritization and work management features are essential for effective medical equipment maintenance.
Better Patient Care
Healthcare facilities rely on medical equipment to provide care for patients. When this equipment breaks down or is improperly maintained, it can disrupt patient treatment and lead to medical errors.
Skilled in-house biomedical technicians ensure that all equipment functions correctly and can help minimize downtime for patient-facing services. These experts also train nurses, therapists and doctors on using medical devices, ensuring the equipment operates safely and effectively.
Regular maintenance can extend the lifespan of medical equipment, reducing the need for costly replacements. Using an EAM solution that keeps a history of maintenance tasks can improve efficiency and reduce costs by giving healthcare professionals visibility into equipment usage trends and insights to drive better decision-making. This means more time for doctors and nurses to focus on patient care.
Increased Efficiency
Preventive maintenance (PM) is critical to any healthcare facility’s equipment management program. PM is typically less expensive and more effective than corrective maintenance (CM), which involves troubleshooting or repairing equipment after it has stopped working correctly.
When it comes to maximizing efficiency, a comprehensive inventory is key. Health facilities professionals should run reports that list their equipment by manufacturer, asset number, function, device type, mission criticality, utilization, availability of alternate devices, CM history and IT integration values. This will enable them to find trends such as user errors and “cannot duplicate” problems, often attributed to the equipment design or ambient environment. Using this data will help to improve overall equipment efficiency and cost. In addition, it will help reduce the time and resources spent on finding or waiting for a specific piece of medical equipment.
Reduced Costs
Whether through a lack of time, additional resources or a systemic change in management techniques, medical equipment repairs can become expensive. By running reports based on manufacturers, facilities professionals can track trends and identify areas that can be improved.
For example, many older devices require device isolation at the component level, which can be labor-intensive. Having skilled in-house biomed techs can reduce the need for these services and save money on equipment repair costs.
Additionally, many healthcare facilities contract manufacturers to perform specific maintenance and repair services. Having skilled in-house biomed technicians can allow these contracts to be canceled, further saving money. This is especially important for facilities that depend on imaging technology, such as MRIs and CTs. These machines must remain in working condition for accurate and quality images.