Hospital Asset Management

Hospitals, Aged Care and Healthcare Services

Enormous numbers of medical equipment are needed to run a hospital effectively and it is the clinical engineering department’s role to ensure that the hospital and all clinical equipment are maintained, tested, and in a reliable working condition at all times. However, the monotony and tediousness associated with manual record-keeping are compelling hospitals to invest in automated tracking solutions, leading to a widening berth for asset management solutions.

Hospital asset management service providers are actively collaborating with prominent data security solutions players and digital software platforms vendors to incorporate smart asset management approaches, thereby alleviating the burden associated with manual tracking and management practices, comments a Fact.MR analyst.

Hospital Asset Management Market Escalates amid Deepening Smart Technology Penetration

Hospital engineers maintain extensive heating, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and ventilation systems and the equipment they operate includes boilers, air-conditioning equipment, diesel engines, turbines, pumps, condensers, generators, and compressors.

Medical equipment maintenance extends from electric power points to which the equipment is plugged in, through to the machinery and consumable parts such as batteries. And as a lot of this critical equipment is portable, so finding equipment (in working order) is crucial.

The responsibility often lies within the department to ensure all equipment is thoroughly checked, repaired and recommended for disposal once past its working life.

The nature of equipment movement, the limited number of expensive equipment units, and a broad range of critical through to non-critical equipment have meant that the engineering department is often under a lot of pressure to prioritise work in a time-sensitive manner.

Unexpected asset downtimes and equipment breakdowns and not locating assets in a timely manner are the major headaches found in most engineering departments.

Ensure safety requirements are met through timely audits

Your assets, medical equipment, stock, parts, inventory and maintenance should be contained within a single source of truth so you can log the following:

• Repair and equipment testing – often performed fortnightly needs to be quick and paperless! This is especially important inwards such as intensive care where getting people in and out quickly is essential.

• Medical device recalls – by manufacturers or regulatory bodies are a common occurrence within hospitals. And not being able to identify affected equipment and its current location poses a huge problem.

• Incident management reports – identifying the ticket number, job status, email trigger when jobs are completed, and the ability for feedback.

• Canned reports for management use – with domain control, restricting the equipment shown.

• Clinical Engineering “in-store” equipment reports – identifying which equipment is currently being held by the engineering department but owned by another department (i.e. Emergency/ Theatre / ICU). The reports are specific and relevant to the department and produced at different times according to the reporting requirements of the owning department.

• Proactive maintenance – that accurately tracks and raises alerts when maintenance is due, rather than reactive which can pose an unnecessary risk to patient care.

• Repair procedures – that can be checked off in real-time and synchronised out in the hospital wards or in a matter of seconds upon attaching the PDA to a sync dock. With the ability to prioritise work orders based on critical versus non-critical equipment status.

• Set repair procedures within the work order – so you know which step has been completed, or is yet to be completed should a repair job have to be suspended due to equipment access (i.e. ICU or emergency departments).

• Assets, inventory, stock and spare parts audit – a must for optimal workflows and for an automated and streamlined approach to the supply chain. Plus provide improved processes for storing and managing spare parts.

Improve visibility and reduce waste with real-time inventory control

Read the RMH CED case study

Implementing the stock management module has been the driver of a substantial transformation within our department. It has significantly improved our processes for storing and managing spare parts which have significantly increased productivity.

We can now view an image of a part to help locate it quickly as well as set alerts so we are notified when minimum stock thresholds are breached. We now use this function to generate a weekly stock re-order report. Biomedical engineer at RMH

Why PPE Management is important

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is equipment worn by a worker to minimize exposure to specific hazards. Examples of PPE include safety shoes, gloves, aprons, fall protection, and full-body Tyvek suits, as well as head, hand, and foot protection.

It is important to track PPE as a vital part of workplace safety. By tracking long-term PPE (reusable) more efficiently and effectively, it’s possible to maintain safety and compliance goals while reducing resources spent managing your PPE program.

Hardcat is a centralised asset register providing visibility of the full range of PPE and essential inventory, assets, tools and equipment, and introduces a range of immediate benefits including lifecycle management and better resource planning.

PPE Management

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