As a Purchasing Director, when faced with the task of assisting in the opening of a new clinic, your role will require equipment delivery pre-planning in order to keep the opening on schedule.
Here are six quick steps to outfitting your new clinic that will ensure you are on schedule:
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Department Meetings: Depending on the nature of your new clinic, you may require a meeting with each clinical department in order to ascertain what equipment each one will require. At this meeting, each representative can be asked to provide you with a list of their requirements so you can prepare a comprehensive list of needs from which you can work.
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Equipment Planners: It is far easier to approach an equipment planner who can work with the building services and project manager to plan, specify, purchase, and install the equipment for the new facility. They can coordinate with the various parties in order to ascertain everything from the sizes of each room to the scheduled date of completion so they are able to meet the needs of the timelines and provide the equipment as required.
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Equipment Selection: Your equipment planner can begin the process of selecting the desired equipment and most will elect to work with a medical equipment procurement and delivery company such as CME. They will be able to assist with the procurement of all equipment and take care of the purchasing, scheduling, training and installment of each piece of equipment as efficiently as possible.
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Negotiating Pricing: Unless the equipment you are purchasing is on a GPO contract, you will likely be left to negotiate pricing and delivery costs on your own. Depending on the size and scope of the equipment being purchased, this may be a major undertaking involving a huge portion of your time. CME can assist customers in this process. We understand that everyone is different so we like to offer this option.
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Scheduling Delivery and Receipt of Equipment: As part of your equipment delivery pre-planning strategy, your equipment planner will work with your medical equipment procurement company to coordinate a receiving schedule. This schedule will identify all key dates and will allow them to coordinate the arrival of equipment with each department. When working with a medical equipment procurement company they will work with each vendor and arrange to have all of the equipment sent to their central warehouse.
This will in turn allow them to schedule a single delivery date with your equipment planner in order to streamline the process. Your equipment planner can then inform each department of the date of arrival for their equipment and assist them in the necessary preparations to receive the equipment. A medical equipment procurement company arranges for direct to room delivery making it easier to receive equipment for each department. -
Proper Installation: Part of your equipment delivery pre-planning will involve the arrangement for installation and training as required. When working with a medical equipment procurement company they will arrange for the installation and will check the equipment to ensure it is functioning properly. They assume responsibility for all equipment failure and will arrange for replacement in the case of any issues. They also arrange for any clinical staff training prior to receipt of the equipment so they are ready to offer medical services using the equipment.
Your job will be much easier if you use equipment delivery pre-planning in your purchasing strategy. You will be better prepared to meet key dates and make arrangements for staff training. Working with an equipment delivery planner who can hire a company such as CME will focus accountability on one central service that will be singularly responsible for the procurement, delivery and installation of the equipment and take care of any potential equipment failure once installed. In addition, they will arrange for equipment training for your clinical staff and reduce the time taken away from actually caring for the patients.
About CME: CME Corp is the nation’s premier source for healthcare equipment, turnkey logistics, and biomedical services, representing 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers.
With two corporate offices and 35+ service centers, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule.
