How to Futureproof Your Medical Practice’s Equipment

New machines are created every day, but unfortunately, many of them offer minimal upgrades. What this means for small hospitals and clinics is that investing in new equipment every year is not necessary, or even advised. Money instead should be saved to provide funding for new developments that offer new diagnostic procedures or treatments to patients.

The issue with this strategy, of course, is how to prolong the life and efficiency of your current machinery. With this guide, your practice will be able to better care for and repair existing equipment so that funds can be better allocated.

Provide Training to All of Your Staff

All of your staff, not just medical staff, need to understand how to use, move, and clean the machines properly. The cleaning crew especially should be given in-depth training so that they can provide exceptional cleaning services and don’t inadvertently cause mishap within your medical practice.

This applies even if it is not their duty to clean the equipment. Knowing what to avoid touching can help prevent things from being bumped in to and potentially damaging it beyond repair. However, if something were to fall down accidentally, they will know if assistance is needed and repair maintenance to be called in.

Train interns, support staff, and more on basic health and safety, and give them a basic tutorial on how each piece of equipment works. This way, if they see something amiss, they can bring it to the attention of you or another doctor.

Hire Maintenance Services from Specialists

Maintenance must be handled by specialists when it comes to medical and lab equipment. This is the best way to keep it in working order and calibrated to provide accurate results on a long term basis. Assuming that equipment won’t need recalibration or repair is foolhardy, and waiting until a repair is necessary can mean you make the wrong decision in who to call.

For example, macontrols.com provides service repair and recalibration for ultrafiltration, chromatography, and tangential flow filtrations. For such lab equipment, they are the best in their field, but you would not use their services to provide repair for an x-ray machine. Have a list of specialists available for every one of your machines to provide your equipment with specialized, professional maintenance that will help futureproof your initial investment.

Embrace the Digital

Though software can be upgraded and new programs can be installed, having the right framework in place will do wonders towards futureproofing your medical practice. This means investing in more than just the standard set of programs but offering unrivaled transparency and 24/7 virtual care to your patients. It is important to remember that though the power of digital technology can improve the level of care provided, the efficiency of care, and the efficiency of your practice that you will need to follow up with privacy and security measures. You will want to bring in a specialist so that your network is encrypted, your staff is trained, and that your system is secure.