Buying new equipment, fully warranted from the manufacturer, has always been the preferred course for most healthcare facilities’ purchasing departments. Increased lead times, raw material shortages, and rising prices have prompted supply chains to look at more readily available and less expensive refurbished or used equipment. There are many things to consider when looking to purchase refurbished or used equipment. The first thing to know is the difference between refurbished and used. Refurbished equipment is previously owned equipment restored to the original manufacturer’s standards. Used equipment implies that the equipment comes “as is”. Refurbished is usually preferred over used equipment. Here are three other issues to clarify prior to purchasing.

With healthcare equipment prices rising and lead times remaining long, there does not seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel. There are some glimmers of hope that things are improving, and that relief is on the way! The three key issues contributing to the supply chain issues are raw materials/component shortages, transportation/freight breakdowns, and labor shortages. All three have contributed to the price spikes and volatility in the industry.

CME Corp has been a member of the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) for 40+ years and HIDA has been a great partner for us. HIDA is the national trade association for healthcare distributors. Nearly 100% of patient procedures and patient diagnoses involve medical products bought from a distributor. The members operate 500+ distribution centers, delivering medical supplies and equipment the last mile to hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes, laboratories, and home health agencies. HIDA supports and promotes distributors to be the best they can. Here are three ways HIDA has helped through the years.

Opening a new medical facility on-time is always challenging. An MCD (Medical Construction & Design) survey in 2018 said that less than 50% of all projects open on time. If we did that poll today, it would even be less, given all the supply chain delays. One common problem when opening any healthcare facility is completing all the biomedical asset-tagging and ESIs (Electrical Safety Inspections) required in a timely fashion. These biomedical check-ins cannot happen until items are delivered and installed in rooms, which is typically near the end of the project. New healthcare facilities have anywhere from 1,000-4,000 pieces of new equipment that require biomedical attention.

The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly wreaked havoc on the healthcare equipment supply chain by increasing lead times, prices, and freight costs. Prior to the pandemic CME Corp recorded lead times for equipment between three and eight weeks on average. This week, lead times reached 12-20 weeks on average, more than tripling since the onset of the pandemic. Most industry leaders are expecting the supply chain to start to recover by the end 2022. What effect might the Ukraine-Russia War have on this recovery? It is still too early to tell what the long-term effects might be but there are already problems starting to surface. Here are three areas to watch:

Healthcare systems have varied long term goals, but most providers want to improve infection control, foster better patient outcomes, and save money. CME and Comfortex can help you do all three.

Hospital mattresses have been targets of The Joint Commission (TJC) during inspections and the FDA in a recent MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) adverse event report. Comfortex has pioneered advanced mattress alternatives for nearly 40 years and addressed the issues that plague other mattress manufacturers.

Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is incredibly helpful for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of many digestive diseases. Endoscopes used for procedures are notoriously hard to clean, and there are gaps and variations in implementing effective infection prevention practices for them.

Sure, proper cleaning protocols are absolutely critical, but if the endoscopes are not dried properly, this can lead to patient infections which no one wants! Choosing the right scope cabinet can help standardize cleaning routines, decrease infections, comply with The Joint Commission (TJC) inspections protocol, and keep track of all your endoscopes.

Here are three reasons to choose the InnerSpace Ventaire™ Cabinet:

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to cripple the healthcare equipment supply chain. Raw materials such as steel, chrome, aluminum, plastic, and electronic parts are scarce, demand is high, and global transportation is bottlenecked all along the supply chain. Add a shortage of workers in the factories, at the docks, at rail yards, trucking companies, within healthcare systems, and you’ve encountered the perfect storm.

We are seeing lead times on some items increase to five and six months. These longer lead times delay the opening of crucial new medical facilities, and they also hamper healthcare systems’ financial recoveries from the pandemic.

Here are four ways CME Corp can assist you in getting your equipment on-time:

As we observe Falls Prevention Awareness Week, now is a better time than ever to review the different ways your healthcare facility can minimize and prevent patient falls. Using the appropriate equipment to lift, move, or transport patients not only minimizes falls, but it also mitigates staff injuries and provides a safe environment for all. Reducing caregivers’ injuries is especially important right now since the COVID-19 pandemic has left many healthcare facilities short-staffed. No one wants to lose a caregiver to a work-related injury.