During this time of critical staffing shortages, nurses still spend almost an hour each shift searching for equipment. This adds costs and takes nurses away from patient care. An effective medical device management program presents an often-overlooked opportunity to improve clinical staff satisfaction, reduce expenses and support quality care.
During a roundtable sponsored by clinical asset management company TRIMEDX at Becker's Hospital Review's 12th Annual Meeting, LeAnne Hester, chief marketing and solutions officer of TRIMEDX, explained the benefits of a comprehensive medical device management program.
Five key takeaways:
1. Even amid staffing shortages, nurses spend considerable time chasing down equipment. Ms. Hester shared data from the American College of Healthcare Executives indicating that staffing shortages are the No. 1 concern for healthcare executives. Nursing shortages are particularly pressing, with data from Incredible Health showing that 34 percent of nurses say they are likely to leave their jobs by the end of 2022. And it's not just a clinical shortage, as there is also a major shortage of biomedical equipment technicians.
Amid this shortage, data from Hospital IQ shows that 43 percent of nurses say they're spending more time on administrative and clerical tasks, and 72 percent of nurses are experiencing burnout. Specifically, TRIMEDX data shows that each shift, nurses spend almost one hour looking for equipment, usually medical devices. "On an average shift, prior to the pandemic, nurses spent 47 minutes of their time looking for equipment, not focused on patient care," Ms. Hester said.
2. A comprehensive medical device management program has multiple benefits. Effective management of medical devices can give clinicians back time and improve patient and provider satisfaction. A medical device management program can:
- Reduce operating expenses
- Reduce reliance on outside labor, specifically for medical equipment management
- Improve device availability
- Reduce time spent looking for equipment
- Reduce rental equipment costs and hassles
- Improve regulatory compliance and patient safety
3. TRIMEDX's medical device management program includes a proprietary workflow and analytics platform. This platform helps health systems manage their medical device supply chains and order parts before they are needed. The platform provides FDA alerts and recall management and monitors cybersecurity vulnerabilities. It uses data and automated workflows to provide actionable insights. As a result, this platform makes requesting equipment or service easier, improves device availability and reduces risk and operating expenses.
TRIMEDX's real-time remote monitoring and algorithms predict equipment failure and plan preventative maintenance. Preventive maintenance and quality of parts are two of the biggest factors influencing equipment downtime, Ms. Hester said.
4. Having a team dedicated to medical devices and leveraging the right technology reduces burdens on clinical staff. TRIMEDX employs thousands of biomedical technicians who are enabled by technology. TRIMEDX invests heavily in recruiting — with many technicians coming from the military — and invests in thorough training. The result is strong employee engagement and retention. "The more that you invest in your technicians, the more time you're going to take off your nurses," Ms. Hester said.
5. Effective medical device management leads to proven financial savings. Solutions from TRIMEDX offer demonstrable savings of 10 percent to 20 percent off baseline clinical engineering operating expenses, 10 percent persistent operating expense savings and a 15 percent to 25 percent annual capital expense avoidance, according to data Ms. Hester shared.
TRIMEDX provides clinical engineering services, medical device cybersecurity and clinical asset management informatics. This optimizes medical devices' availability to clinical staff. TRIMEDX reaches over 4,500 U.S. sites and actively manages 2.2 million devices.
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