From the September 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Review In-House Training

Technicians

Keeping your techs current on their training and improving skills will reduce the need for one-time service requests from manufacturers and reduces equipment downtime for maintenance that can be done in-house, as well-trained techs can diagnose problems and address them faster. “Training focused on your high-risk/high-complexity of use devices yields the most efficiency and safety returns,” Reid said.

Management

Reid believes advanced training for the decision-makers at an organization should be on the radar. Lean Six Sigma, Certified Healthcare Technology Manager and Project Management Professional certifications are all value-added. The training and knowledge gained will support and enable high reliability and fiscal conservancy throughout the HTM department, he said.

Users

It’s actually the users, not the techs that are the first line of defense against equipment failure. To begin with, users with inadequate training can actually be the cause of the equipment failure. Once the bar is cleared for proper use, training to identify basic warning signs of imminent failure or functional degradation can allow techs to get an early heads-up before a minor problem becomes a major one. Yearly refresher training on complex equipment is worth considering too.

Capital Equipment

Procurement

Procurement is definitely an area where time is money, but the time/money equation has the real potential to work out in your favor. “I have found that it is beneficial to have a project manager review the potential procurement so that they can spot any deficiencies and have them corrected before the contract is let and they are stuck with a troublesome project,” Reid said. “For example if a steam sterilizer is being purchased for a dental clinic, a question to ask is, 'does the clinic have a central steam supply or is the boiler option needed as part of the procurement?'”

Intended use versus intended purchase

Carefully consider whether you’re buying too much or too little when it comes to your device. According to Reid, he found that many companies include packages that aren’t necessary for the needs of the organization.

One final takeaway Reid offered, “Not all contracts are bad, some save time and money and improve availability of equipment.”

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