Medical equipment is critical for monitoring, diagnosing and treating patients. When this equipment fails or doesn’t perform at its optimal level it can lead to degradation of patient care, safety issues and even life-threatening consequences.
Maintaining this equipment requires an airtight schedule to ensure that machines can be serviced at the right times without impacting operations. Medical equipment management software can generate recurring work orders to help with this process.
1. Patient Safety
Medical equipment is critical in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients. Whether hospitals are using state-of-the-art tools or older models, they need to ensure that their devices are functioning properly. This means they need to have a strong maintenance plan in place to detect any issues before they affect patient safety or efficiency.
Without proper maintenance, healthcare facilities face many issues, including a decreased device lifespan and expensive repairs. These expenses can have negative impacts on operational costs, revenue, and patient care. In addition, healthcare professionals may be forced to use manual workarounds if a piece of medical equipment breaks down or is not working correctly. This can result in inaccurate results, delays in treatment, and patient dissatisfaction.
The healthcare industry has strict regulations for medical equipment inspections, and failure to comply can lead to fines and a loss of reputation. Furthermore, poor medical equipment maintenance can cause serious health complications for patients due to varying equipment-related injuries.
A solid maintenance plan should include a visual examination, functional testing, and safety checks to ensure that the equipment is working properly. These inspections are usually conducted by trained professionals with expertise in biomedical engineering or medical technology. Regular inspections can also help reduce the number of medical mistakes made by misinterpreting test results or malfunctioning devices.
Additionally, since many medical devices are connected to the hospital’s network, it’s important for healthcare professionals to keep an eye on any security vulnerabilities that could impact patient data and the integrity of the system as a whole. Having a comprehensive maintenance solution in place that can monitor device health, including any software or security updates needed, is essential.
2. Patient Comfort
Aside from safety, patient comfort is a big reason why medical equipment maintenance should be a top priority, such as making sure that chairs are often adjustable. If your equipment is constantly breaking down, it may cause discomfort for the patients in your facility or can even lead to infections that can affect their health.
In fact, a recent study found that malfunctions are associated with poor patient outcomes. It is also important to note that a malfunction can be caused by the incorrect use of medical equipment. For example, the wrong voltage can trigger a device to shut down other, possibly life-saving equipment, which can lead to a dangerous situation for your patients and staff.
Another factor that makes it important to have a regular maintenance program is the ability to increase the lifespan of your equipment. Keeping your equipment maintained regularly will prevent premature wear and tear, which can lead to expensive repairs or the need to replace your equipment altogether. This will help to save your healthcare or LTC facilities money and will ensure that your patients receive the best possible care.
Lastly, having an effective maintenance plan in place will make your patients more satisfied with their stay at your facility. This is because they will know that your staff genuinely cares about their comfort and is working to improve their experience. In fact, some hospitals have even gone as far as providing little comforts for their patients, such as offering to buy them a pair of fuzzy socks or getting them a fan for their room.
Patients’ self-comforting strategies during times of distress and uncertainty were captured in a framework called the Comfort Always Matters (CALM). These themes – which emerged from patient interviews and a review of literature – occurred within four integrated layers. Specifically, the first theme related to personal strategies. This included a variety of approaches to maintain positivity, looking for reassuring signs of safety through surveillance of self and others, easing distress using distraction or self-care routines and developing acceptance of one’s situation by, for example, getting informed, planning and learning to trust.
3. Increased Efficiency
In the medical field, efficient equipment is essential to patient safety and treatment. It also allows doctors to work quickly and easily. When medical equipment fails, it can cause delays or even prevent a procedure from happening altogether. This can lead to costly repairs and decreased patient care.
A comprehensive maintenance plan helps to reduce the amount of time a hospital or medical facility spends on equipment repair. It can also save money on the cost of replacing damaged parts that are expensive and difficult to replace. Additionally, a well-maintained piece of medical equipment will last longer and work better, so it is more useful to the healthcare facility.
Without a proper maintenance strategy in place, medical facilities can face increased costs, downtime and regulatory issues that can affect their reputation, financial stability and patient safety. Moreover, when equipment fails, it increases the risk of a medical error caused by defective or inoperable devices that can damage patients’ health and put their lives in danger.
Medical equipment maintenance includes a variety of procedures and tests, including regular replacement of certain components that have been used extensively. Almost every manufacturer has specific recommendations for this type of maintenance, such as replacing surgical lights after a minimal number of cycles or conducting routine assessments of ventilators to ensure they are mixing vapors and providing adequate gas flow. These guidelines and tests must be followed to avoid failures, which can result in expensive repair bills and downtime for the entire healthcare facility. Fortunately, field service management software can help to automate these tasks and improve efficiency. With digitized data available at the click of a button, dispatchers can instantly create recurring work orders and assign them to the right technician in the field.
4. Reduced Costs
Medical equipment maintenance costs are a major concern for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. These expenses can be high depending on the type of equipment, whether it’s state-of-the-art or older models, and its condition. When an unexpected breakdown occurs it can cost even more to fix the equipment and may also incur medical malpractice costs if the hospital was not careful enough to detect a problem before it became a risk to patient safety. Having a comprehensive preventive maintenance program in place can help to reduce these costs and save the hospital money over time.
By using field service management software to automate and schedule recurring work orders for a wide range of devices a facility can ensure that these expensive pieces of machinery are being properly cared for. Having these services conducted before any problems develop will make sure that the equipment is always ready to be used as needed.
When an equipment failure occurs it is usually due to lack of proper maintenance. This can lead to a lack of efficiency and the loss of valuable time which could be better spent on other important tasks. With routine inspections, healthcare professionals can work with confidence knowing that the devices they are using are functioning as intended and will not fail during use.
In a highly regulated industry like healthcare the quality of service that is offered to patients relies heavily on the quality and efficiency of the technology being used. Having these devices regularly inspected and maintained is crucial to patient safety, operational efficiency, and the reputation of a medical facility or healthcare organization. Without this, these companies may face criticism for providing subpar care to their customers and may be at risk of lawsuits from unforeseen issues that arise from equipment that has not been properly maintained.
5. Increased Reputation
Medical institutions use a wide variety of devices and equipment for diagnostic, treatment, and monitoring purposes. They often spend hefty sums on these devices, which are critical for patient safety and care. This makes it even more important that they get superior maintenance services all year round. Moreover, these maintenance services must be in line with industry best practices and availability requirements.
Besides being cost-effective, effective maintenance helps medical facilities improve their reputation as trusted partners in healthcare. It also protects them from liability issues. Documented maintenance plans can shield them from liability if a piece of equipment malfunctions and causes injury or death to a patient.
Aside from the risk of injury or death, malfunctioning or unreliable medical equipment can also affect staff morale. This is because employees will have to put in extra effort and work around faulty machinery, which can affect their efficiency and quality of service.
It is important that medical facilities understand the importance of medical equipment maintenance and make it a priority in their business. This is because the failure of a single device can have an impact on the entire operation and negatively affect the patient’s health.
To avoid this, medical facilities can seek professional medical equipment maintenance services. This is done by partnering with companies that specialize in providing maintenance for different medical and laboratory equipment. These third-party companies can provide regular and ongoing maintenance for the various medical equipment in the facility, which includes preventive and predictive maintenance. They can also help with the repair and replacement of medical equipment. This will ensure that the medical facility’s equipment is always ready for patients and can help with operational efficiency.
