CME Insider's Blog Posts

Healthcare equipment technology advances move quickly. If you walk into a patient room today, you will see equipment that didn't exist a decade ago. For hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) the decision to replace aging equipment is no longer about waiting for something to break. It is a strategic calculation that involves patient safety, financial health, and staying competitive in an increasingly digital landscape.

Nursing is, at its core, a heart-driven profession built on compassion, dedication, and human connection. Yet it also depends on reliable medical equipment.

The right tools do not just help improve patient outcomes, they can also make workflows more efficient and help protect staff as they go about the business of delivering care.

In the rapidly advancing world of medical imaging, nuclear cameras, also known as gamma cameras or emission scanners, serve as the "physiologists" of radiology. Unlike X-rays or CT scans that primarily map the body’s anatomy, nuclear cameras visualize how the body functions at a molecular level. By detecting radiopharmaceuticals as they travel through organs, these cameras help clinicians identify diseases like cancer, heart conditions, and neurological disorders long before structural changes become visible.

Investing in new medical equipment is one of the most significant decisions a healthcare facility, be it a major hospital, an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), or a specialty clinic, will ever make. These assets are the lifeblood of clinical operations and can directly influence patient outcomes, staff efficiency, and financial sustainability.

In the complex healthcare environment of a hospital or ASC, medical equipment purchase decisions are not always simple. They can be a strategic, multidisciplinary process rooted in planning and evaluation. Failure to plan and haphazard evaluations can lead to costly downtime, regulatory non-compliance, clinical workflow bottlenecks, and, most critically, lower the quality of patient care.

Purchasing equipment used in healthcare, from a state-of-the-art MRI to a fleet of new IV Poles, is one of the most significant investments hospitals and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) will make. Get it right, and you unlock years of clinical excellence, operational efficiency, and financial stability. Get it wrong, and you risk incurring millions in irretrievable costs, profit crippling downtime, and, most importantly, compromised patient care.

Although taking blood pressure is routine practice inside the doctor’s office, inaccurate readings can occur, often the result of measurement technique or improper patient positioning. One technique that is recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACC) is blood pressure (BP) averaging. BP averaging is simply the process of taking 2 or more readings and averaging them together.

This article will explore how Baxter vitals signs spot monitors and best practices can minimize inaccurate blood pressure readings.

Investing in capital medical equipment is a major decision for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). While the purchase price often has the most attention, the full cost of ownership extends far beyond the price.

Medical equipment that has been asset tagged is not just a “nice to have.” It is a significant cost-control practice that can directly affect operational efficiency, patient care, and capital planning. Hospitals that know exactly what they own, where it is, and what condition it is in consistently outperform those that rely on outdated lists, manual logs, or guesswork.

The design of an Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) is not merely an architectural exercise; it is a strategic operational mandate. A well-optimized layout is the foundation of patient safety, staff efficiency, and fiscal health. In the competitive ASC environment, maximizing throughput and minimizing delays can directly impact the bottom line and the quality of care delivered.