Medical care facilities depend on both the education and experience of their personnel and the equipment used to provide key services. In the same way that a doctor, specialist, or other healthcare provider might attend lectures or take supplementary classes to sharpen their skill set, medical equipment needs occasional maintenance and repairs to serve patients best. For local healthcare facilities, medical equipment repairers in Sacramento offer product and brand-specific knowledge to keep crucial medical instruments in proper working order and up to all board-certified standards.
Key Factors to Consider When Selecting Medical Equipment Repairers
Healthcare facilities are only as effective as the services they can provide, and these services depend on properly functioning equipment. When pieces of equipment like EKGs, ventilators, or surgical booms aren’t functioning properly, it can put patient lives at risk. Even secondary pieces of equipment like telemetry devices and sterilizers can bring productivity to a halt when compromised—not to mention impeding daily clerical work and incurring serious liability on the part of the facility.
Since properly functioning medical equipment is a keystone of an effective healthcare facility, care should be taken when choosing reliable and professional medical equipment repairers in Sacramento. Administrators deciding on which repairer has their best interests in mind should consider a few key factors:
Experience and Qualifications
Because medical equipment must adhere to strict operational codes, the repair service provider should have the necessary experience and industry knowledge to ensure that any equipment they service will not incur any liability to the facility and generally perform as intended when required by staff. Because medical technology is a rapidly advancing industry, repair companies should have strategies in place for treating both newer and older equipment.
Performance verification and safety testing (PVST) is part of the predictive maintenance necessary for older equipment and to estimate the overall lifespan of the instrument, while newer equipment benefits from preventative maintenance to proactively stop malfunctions and prolong the life of the instrument. Ask any prospective repair companies about their strategies for maintaining newer and older equipment alike.
Certifications
Because medical equipment directly interfaces with patients and has such a direct effect on the outcome of their treatment, manufacturing and repair of these instruments must adhere to a—sometimes overlapping—set of standards from multiple governing bodies. The FDA is one of the main regulating bodies in the United States, while the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) maintains its own codes specifically relating to risk management, biocompatibility, and medical device software.
Medical equipment management standards published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) serve as the basis for the standards and procedures ensuring effective, safe, and reliable operation of all medical equipment. The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) also sets the standard qualifications for all certified biomedical equipment technicians (CBET). If you are considering buying medical equipment or contracting a company to serve as your primary medical equipment repairer, ask about which standards they adhere to and documented qualifications they hold.
Range of Services
Hospitals and healthcare facilities use many different types of equipment every day, from patient-forward devices like EKGs to supplementary and support instruments like humidifiers and sterilizers. Reliable medical equipment repairers should be able to service a range of technical equipment, taking into account the individual components and brand-specific knowledge that might be affecting how and why an instrument is malfunctioning. This includes developing an intimate knowledge of both the hardware and software remedies to employ when needed. Medical equipment repairers in Sacramento should also readily advertise their specialties—the brands, equipment, and processes that they do better than their competitors. When deciding on medical equipment repairers, consider the needs of your specific facility and look for companies that are equipped to support those specific services.
Related: Sterilizer service provider in Sacramento
Response Time and Availability
Medical equipment malfunctions rarely happen at opportune times, and when repairs are needed, they can have drastic consequences on a facility’s workflow. Be sure to ask potential providers or repairers about their general availability and how quickly they’re able to respond to a request for services. Understanding these factors can help you have a contingency in place in case of crucial equipment failure, and a responsible repairer should be able to accommodate your needs quickly and reliably—either through on-site repair services or through an expected return date for equipment that’s been sent out.
Contracting an experienced and reliable medical equipment repairer in Sacramento is perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of running a healthcare facility. With how important functioning, properly calibrated instruments are to optimal patient results and an efficient workflow, finding and properly vetting a medical equipment repairer can remove uncertainty from a healthcare facility’s operations, and return substantial ROI. If you are currently looking for biomedical equipment services in Sacramento, consider the professionals at ERD. With years of experience serving healthcare facilities around the region and properly trained and licensed staff, ERD offers timely, dependable repair services for all crucial hospital and healthcare equipment. To learn more, contact ERD today!
