There is an adage that says that a worker is as good as his tools. This means that tools play a major role in assuring perfection and precision in performance. This is especially true in hospitals too…the medical equipment, devices and tools used for diagnosis, treatment, surgery, and management of various health conditions must be top-notch to assure optimum outcomes.

When so much depends upon the medical equipment of your healthcare facility, you should make sure that you invest in this aspect only after careful study and thorough introspection.

There are certain strategies that can help you in this regard.

1. Keep an eye on your budget

You might be eager to procure the most advanced medical ware, but you should remember that medical equipment comes at a mammoth cost. You must thoughtfully assess whether your healthcare facility should invest in a specific healthcare device or whether it would be better to outsource this aspect. The decision should be based on your hospital’s needs, core competency, expected footfall, hospital space and layout, and the needed degree of sophistication.

2. Do not compromise on quality

When it comes to health and lives, quality is unnegotiable. Try to invest in the best medical equipment that can be procured at your budget threshold. Certain Healthcare facilities settle for lowly-priced equipment to downsize costs but settling for “Not the best” can lead to errors in diagnosis and monitoring which can be bad news for the patients. While investing in medical equipment, choose only reputed manufacturing companies and reliable vendors. Do not make any impulsive purchases without verifying quality as they can prove to be very costly in the long run.

The workforce must be trained to handle and operate the medical equipment.

3. Choose the right vendor

Along with the quality of the medical equipment, you should also be alert to the choose reputed vendors who can give the best deals in terms of cost, maintenance, and repair of your medical equipment. The vendor should be organized, reliable and responsive. He should have the expertise and the experience to resolve any issue speedily and proactively as any unscheduled breaks can cause problems.

4. Do an in-depth study

Study the technology, working, capability and functionality of medical equipment thoroughly before making a purchase. Get proper feedback on the medical equipment that you wish to procure as this is a long-term decision and any mistake that you make in the basic step will not only prove to be costly but also put patients in danger and cascade into a disaster.

5. Check if you really need it

Medical equipment is indeed expensive. Hence, even if you feel like getting the latest and the most innovative devices, be sure to pause and think if you really need it because it can add to your overheads

6. Accessibility

It is not just enough to have modern medical equipment. It must fit in your hospital too. This can be taken care of in the planning stage itself and you can ask your architect to incorporate space, electric circuits, and storage to fit your medical equipment aptly.

E.g., If you are desirous of starting a Trauma centre, an MRI unit near the emergency room will be convenient if you have the space for it.

To summarize, the excellence of a hospital is not only determined by the Healthcare professionals who man it, but also by the quality and availability of the array of medical equipment used for diagnosis, screening, monitoring, surgeries, and treatment. Hence, hospital equipment planning should be one of your top priorities to assure smooth and efficient working of your hospital. These strategies can help you plan your medical equipment purchases in a better manner. If you need any help in this regard, consult Hospertz, a Hospital Consultancy firm with more than two decades of expertise in the field of Hospital launch.

Blog has been written by Dr. Vishal Jadhav, a veteran in the field of hospital consultancy with a rich experience of more than 20 years and founder of the Healthcare Consultancy Firm, Hospertz.

Dr. Vishal Jadhav, Director
hospertz@gmail.com
+91 9867712705/ 9820833149