Solving the puzzle - finding parts at the right price

May 28 2007

Biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs) and clinical engineers (CEs) have discovered that saving money doesn't have to mean cutting corners on service.

An article in the recent issue of Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology analyzed the new repair strategies and plans being implemented by BMETs and CEs across the country.

Clinical engineering departments can't afford cost-cutting decisions that jeopardize patient safety. The clinical engineering department often finds itself in a balancing act, considering the potential ‘cost' of bottom-line benefits to quality of service. At a time when many clinical engineering departments are under the gun to control costs, the stakes are high.

Geoffrey Smith, BMET II, CBET, was able to save $63,000 for St Mary's Hospital in Madison, WI, by rebuilding Cobe dialysis machine pumps. St. Mary's had been spending $300 for parts each time the pumps needed repairing; Smith was able to reduce the repair cost to $1.15 each.

It is important for BMETs and CEs to track the savings provided in order to be able to further analyze savings potential. Smith created a cost-savings matrix to help make repair and purchasing decisions. Other clinical engineering departments have been able to save money by doing their own system installs, servicing office and biomedical equipment in house, and outsourcing to independent service organizations.

To read the entire article, please click here: http://www.allenpress.com/pdf/bmit-41-03-cover.pdf.

Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology is the official bimonthly journal of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). For more information about AAMI, please visit http://www.aami.org.