Meta description: Preventive maintenance of medical equipment can reduce costs, improve safety, and give doctors peace of mind.
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Preventive maintenance involves regularly servicing equipment that helps to keep it from failing, and is especially important in the medical field. Engineers employ preventive maintenance in various industries, but it is especially useful in the medical field.
In this post, we explore some of the reasons why preventative maintenance is essential for medical equipment.
It Generates Significant Financial Savings
In U.S. hospitals, it costs more than $200 billion to buy medical devices every year. Some hospitals are purchasing new medical equipment. But in most cases, they are simply replacing older items that they have. But most of the time, they are just buying new items.
Medical supplies usually last around seven to ten years when used as designed. But, if it is properly maintained, it may last much longer.
It is much more costly to replace medical equipment than to make repairs regularly. Choosing to regularly replace damaged equipment with refurbished ones can save medical practices a lot of money.
It Improves Safety
Medical devices should perform to specification all year round. If equipment isn’t working properly, patients and staff may be put at risk.
In the medical world, equipment that is regularly serviced by qualified professionals is safer than equipment that is not serviced. If an issue occurs, engineers can find it quickly and fix it before it becomes a big problem.
There have been a number of medical equipment and device failures. Medtronic’s MiniMed insulin pumps had to be recalled, as well as Edwards Lifesciences’ measuring devices, due to leaks in the power supplies that caused them to be disabled. Those who regularly scheduled preventive maintenance were able to quickly identify these risks; others had to wait until the problem was solved before providing treatment.
It Boosts Operational Efficiency
There are many reasons why it would be advantageous to have regular preventive maintenance performed on medical equipment. Most doctors in the U.S. see from 20 to 30 patients per day, which is roughly 7,000 to 8,000 people per year. If the right equipment maintenance schedule is in place, doctors could see even more patients.
When equipment is properly maintained, doctors are able to access and use it more liberally. There is less setup time, fiddling about with buttons, or calibration. And the instruments that they use perform flawlessly right “out of the box”, providing superior service.
When medical equipment doesn’t perform satisfactorily, it can actually lower productivity. Queues begin forming in waiting rooms, physicians can’t clear backlogs, and medics wind up working longer hours. Queues start to form in waiting rooms, doctors aren’t able to clear backlogs, and nurses work longer hours.
It is easy to schedule routine maintenance for your medical equipment. Companies like Preventive Maintenance Medical Inc. (PM Medical), sets you up on a preventive maintenance schedule that meets the manufacturer’s and industry requirements. If it’s necessary to contact your contractor after hours, they’re available to help you. They know that out of regular maintenance, emergencies happen and that you may need a part replaced that day.
It Reduces Frustration
Regular maintenance of equipment prevents frustration and keeps medical staff happy. Deep down, medical staff are human, too They get frustrated when medical equipment doesn’t work properly. Trying to coax a broken ultrasound machine into producing a viable image is extremely annoying.
If you keep your medical equipment maintained, you will eliminate many of these issues. It is as if equipment still works like it did the day it was originally purchased. For more information about how to prevent failures in your medical equipment, visit PM Medical’s website today!