A competent, skilled, and experienced staff is the backbone of any hospital or other healthcare facility. However, exceptional patient care also depends on having up-to-date functional technology.

Using technologically advanced equipment improves patient satisfaction and increases staff efficiency, which leads to higher revenue. How do you make sure that your new medical equipment is ready to use immediately after you’ve ordered it?

Here are five tips to ensure the most efficient and smoothest equipment setup.

Inspection of Parts and Proper Assembly

Source / On-site Supplier Inspection

Source inspections take place at the supplier before shipment to your facility. The source inspection is the first step of the process. It checks for nonconformance and defects and determines the production order quantity.

These supplier inspections verify compliance with equipment plans prior to production. Depending on the level of delegation, source inspections can either be done by an internal or external provider.

Receive Inspection

A receiving inspection acts as a gatekeeper before a product is accepted. At a specific stage in the product’s lifecycle, received materials, components and finished goods are checked. Inspectors are responsible for ensuring that equipment arrives in proper working condition. They also need to evaluate the material for damage in order to avoid future problems.

For the following reasons, you should carefully inspect every piece of equipment:

• Missing Parts
• Damaged Parts
• Incomplete order

This is an important step for any hospital or healthcare facility, even though it might seem obvious. To avoid future problems, a quick inspection is not enough.

It doesn’t matter how well you put together medical equipment. After you have inspected all the pieces, make sure everything is assembled correctly. A small mistake could cause equipment malfunctioning and potentially damaging your equipment. This can lead to more money and time spent on equipment.

Select the location for the equipment

A majority of offices have a basic diagnostic system. It includes the instruments necessary for physical diagnoses, such as an otoscope and ophthalmoscope. These systems can be mounted on the wall to make them easy to access. You and your staff will not have to change your routine every time you enter a new room if the systems are mounted in the same location in each exam room.

You need to have the equipment located in the area where it will be used, so a direct-to-site delivery process is extremely beneficial.

Test of Functionality

After assembly, it is important to test the equipment for functionality. Even though everything may look perfect, there could be a problem that cannot be seen. Testing can reveal assembly errors before permanent damage is done.

Instruction for Use

Finally, after all inspections have been done and everything seems to work properly, it’s crucial that each applicable member of your staff is instructed on the proper use of the medical equipment, especially if it’s a new model that’s not been used by your staff.

Clear, detailed instructions prevent misuse, which could lead to poor patient care or damage of the equipment. It’s also important that instruction includes the hospital biomedical staff in order to facilitate shock-free operation and proper electrical grounding.

Great Lakes Imaging can set up your medical equipment for you. Call us to learn more.