CME Insider's Blog Posts

Crash carts are an essential part of any medical facility. These carts need to be properly supplied and secured to ensure availability when an urgent situation arises. It is important that these carts are standardized throughout the facility as you never know where or when a situation may occur

Crash carts need to be ready to take on an emergency. Is yours? If the answer is no, then you might have some work to do. If your crash cart isn’t being utilized efficiently, there are a few underlying reasons as to why that is. The first is that the crash cart you invested in isn’t a proper match for your facility. The second revolves around supply management. Having the right supplies on a crash cart is vital because caregivers often need them immediately for the patient to survive.

In a 12-month data review of hospital data, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority found 56 reports that showed emergency response calls where supplies or equipment were missing or expired. Of the 56 statements, 35 referenced issues with crash carts themselves, and 21 referenced problems with unavailable supplies or other supply management issues.

In today’s hospital setting, missing mobile medical equipment is a widespread problem. Nursing teams and biomedical teams can’t find equipment, which not only impacts the timeliness but also the safety of patient care.

Hospital executives typically look to resolve perceived equipment shortages by purchasing more equipment. However, the equipment they already have is likely underused: the average asset utilization rate is 30 to 40%.

Protecting workers is a must for all businesses, but it is especially essential in healthcare. Delivering acute care involves stressful scenarios where emotions run high. Patients suffering physical or mental trauma can become uncooperative or belligerent. Others could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and threatening violence. This will always be a concern for the Emergency Department (ED), where anger can quickly escalate.

The threats are very real in healthcare. In fact, healthcare workers amount to almost 50% of all workplace violence victims.

Care providers are the greatest assets of an acute care facility, and protecting them is priority one for hospital administration and management. Options to protect workers shouldn’t be complicated or costly. As technology becomes easier to use and more closely connected, sometimes what is needed is a wearable badge with a button to push.

The challenges faced by today’s healthcare providers are demanding and vast. Within this mix are the problems faced when using regular, outdated wheelchairs.

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:

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) cost facilities billions of dollars and cause 99,000 deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At CME Corp, we consider this trend to be nothing short of tragic, but we do have some answers.

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.

With COVID-19 cases rising and vaccine rollout strategies growing across the country, it's critical for medical facilities to remain up to date with the latest vaccine storage requirements that will help to reduce vaccine waste. From the moment a vaccine is produced to the moment it is administered, it's important to keep the cold chain consistent within each vaccine's designated temperature ranges.  

While preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has always been a top priority for healthcare providers, the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a large jump in HAIs by fourth quarter of 2020.  While equipment such as ventilators and catheters are top of mind during infection prevention discussions, there are other product solutions that you may not have thought of.

Here are six unique product solutions that will help control environmental risk factors for HAI.