CME Insider's Blog Posts

Caregivers grumble about equipment that has stopped working… again. Accountants are concerned about spending. Headlines scream that landfills are full.

Should you replace medical equipment or repair it?

For many healthcare facilities the knee jerk response is to repair. Unfortunately, in the long run, this can be costly on multiple levels, including public perception.

Not to mention that over time manufacturers make business decisions to stop producing replacement parts for older products they would like to phase out completely.

Replace or repair? It’s a conundrum.

How do You Decide?

First, consider these two questions:

Together Everyone Achieves More

Sometimes it feels like “teamwork” has been a buzz word forever. Teamwork related motivational quotes grace the walls of businesses, schools, and even healthcare facilities. Whether you embrace teamwork or are fed up with all the hype, the reality is that a cohesive group of people, with each member contributing to a specific task can, and does, accomplish amazing things.

Take an operating room team for example. For routine surgery there are between 6 and 10 medical personnel scrubbed and performing specific roles. The team includes the Surgeon, Anesthesiologist, Nurse Anesthetist, 2-4 Scrub Techs, Circulating Tech, Nurse(s), and in some cases medical students. Then there are the mind-boggling surgical feats of medical science, the separation of conjoined twins for example, that require a surgical team of more than thirty. These teams of doctors, nurses, and OR staff ensure the best possible outcome for patients by performing their individual roles while, at the same time, working together.

Team CME

Outside operating rooms teamwork is just as vital to medical equipment distributors providing the healthcare industry with access to the capital medical equipment needed to ensure patient satisfaction.

By a show of hands who has had or knows someone who has had a legal medical procedure, performed in recent memory, without sterile instruments, in an unhygienic environment, in the United States.

That’s what we thought.

We’ve come a long way from the days when “a man laid on the operating table of one of our surgical hospitals is more exposed to more chance of death than was the English soldier on the field of Waterloo” (Sir James Young Simpson, Surgeon and Professor of Medicine and Midwifery (1860s)).¹

But we aren’t there yet. 

Despite a $987M and growing market for surface disinfectants, 1 out of every 25 hospitalized patients are affected by a healthcare-associated infection (HAI).

There’s a lot of talk these days about work life balance among Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials. Gen Z has no qualms about leaving jobs that prevent a proper work-life balance and actively looks for red flags during job interviews to determine an employer’s commitment to fostering a work-life balance.¹ It’s a hot topic, with bloggers, journalists, and motivational speakers all offering tips for achieving a good work-life balance.

Why is work-life balance suddenly such a hot topic?

Military

How is it that a single word has the power to conjure hundreds of images in our mind and evoke waves of distinct emotions … all in a split second.

The Merriam-Webster defines military as “of or relating to armed forces” and “performed or made by armed forces”. But, based on how our lives and loved ones have been touched by the military, we may use other defining words.

It’s a safe bet that close to every single one of us knows or knows of someone who is serving or has served our nation in the military. Cast a wider net to include the spouses of the armed forces and one would be hard pressed to say they don’t know a single person in or associated with the military.

CME is proud to say that close to 10% of the men and women in the CME Corp workforce are active reservists or former armed forces personnel.

Shelving units filled with an array of roughly organized supplies and crowded into a small space. Sound familiar? 

For many healthcare facilities supply storage space is limited, challenging even the best inventory control systems to maintain required levels of supplies and manage product expirations in the crowded, possibly disorganized environment. 

So, is the problem the size of the space or is it how the limited space is used?

While more space for supplies is always on the wish list, the best solution is to optimize the available space with high-density shelving. Increase storage space with Track Shelving, Basket Shelving or a Customized Shelving system specific to your needs.

More than two (2) acts of violence are committed each hour against nurses¹. That’s roughly 57 assaults a day.

What’s especially concerning is that this statistic does not include all healthcare professionals, nor does it capture unreported assaults chalked up to “part of the job”! Equally mind boggling is that the majority of these assaults are by patients. Patients, the same people healthcare workers solemnly pledge to help by making their health the first consideration.

While a bill called the Safer Hospitals Act (HB 3832)² recently passed the Georgia House, it is an after-the-fact penal solution that calls for 3-20 years prison time for assailants. Certainly a deterrent, but what about real-time intervention when caregivers need it most? “Nurses deserve to be protected and feel safe while caring for people in their most vulnerable state” says Dr. Jeff Doucette, Chief Nursing Officer, Press Ganey.¹

Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) can help create safer working environments.

When we hear about the mounting threat of Climate Change caused by Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) and Carbon Footprints many of us righteously point the finger at manufacturing and demand reform in the name of Sustainability. 

While finger pointing is always counterproductive, some vindication of the pointers may be in order. Let's pause a quick moment and consider how manufacturing may in fact affect the GHG attributed to other sectors and how taking the Climate Pledge can help improve climate resilience.

Take the healthcare sector for example, only 8.5%¹ of all GHG in the United States originates in this sector. 

But, of that 8.5%, 80% of healthcare attributed GHG are "indirect emissions from the production and transportation of goods and services procured by the health sector, such as those related to pharmaceuticals and other medical products and devices."¹

Why is that?

Current staffing shortages in healthcare have caused an increased spend on temporary help that has exploded budgets. In response, becoming more efficient and retaining and attracting staff are the primary focus for many, if not most, healthcare facilities in our post-pandemic world.

Choosing the right equipment can help with these goals. There are many products that not only increase efficiency by decreasing staff involvement but also make the clinical environment safer. In the long run, the right equipment can ultimately save money.