• Perform an outcomes analysis. This will help you understand how your endoscope equipment factors into all aspects of your facility’s operation. Ask physicians, staff and other stakeholders for input:
• Does the facility anticipate an increase or decrease in case volume or changes in case mix over the next three to five years?
• Have cases ever been lost, delayed or canceled as a result of equipment shortages?
• Does the endoscope mix per procedure room meet the facility’s and physicians’ needs?

• Do requests for infrequently used technology interfere with a realistic budget allocation?
• Does the ratio of AERs to procedure rooms still make sense? (The number of AERs may impact optimal scope turnaround times. An inadequate inventory of AERs also can spike overtime costs used to compensate staff that stays late to reprocess scopes at the end of the day.)
• Have repair costs increased for no apparent reason?
• Is there a new physician using the equipment?
• Have procedure volumes spiked?
• Are a few preferred new scopes being utilized constantly while other equipment collects dust, having reached the end of its usable life?
• Have reprocessing protocols or staff changed? (Non-dedicated reprocessing personnel can adversely impact the type and frequency of repairs. So can a rushed reprocessing staff that hurries through reprocessing steps to accelerate scope turnover.)

Once you have all the data collected, your proactive maintenance regimen comes into play to help budget for new equipment. By proactively implementing a repair reduction plan, you can improve handling protocols and reduce reprocessing-related issues. The savings you experience in repair reductions can be earmarked to augment your budget for inventory purchases. Armed with a dedicated analysis specific to your facility’s inventory and with the help of the right data, the result of this effort should be what helps convince your administration to fund the acquisition of new equipment.

Nancy Vacante is the director, professional services at Olympus Corporation of the Americas.

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