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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that know exactly what they own, where it is, and what condition it is in consistently outperform those that rely on outdated lists, manual logs, or guesswork.
It is true.
Consider these sobering statistics and take a moment or two to consider the impact they can have on efficiency, care, and planning. Then continue reading to explore the top ten ways asset tagging can help healthcare facilities cut avoidable costs.
The Real Cost of Missing Medical Equipment
One of the most unrecognized drains on hospital finances is missing, lost, or underutilized medical equipment. Studies show that 10–20% of a typical hospital’s mobile assets are lost or stolen over their useful life. This equipment has an average replacement cost of around $3,000 per item (citation).
Equipment attrition is not trivial. A loss rate of even 2–7% annually is common. For example, a 300-bed hospital with assets valued at $10.5 million might lose $210,000 per year simply due to shrinkage (citation).
Beyond that, hospitals incur avoidable costs estimated at about $2.2 million per year related to misplaced or missing medical equipment, according to industry analysis(citation). These costs come from multiple sources: staff spending time searching for devices instead of caring for patients; late fees on unreturned rentals; and redundant purchases when items appear “missing” but are simply unaccounted for.
Inadequate inventory control also affects maintenance: up to 75% of biomedical maintenance time is reportedly spent just trying to locate the item to be serviced (citation). And when maintenance is neglected or delayed, the financial consequences escalate. One study of more than 1,000 U.S. hospitals found that poor equipment maintenance accounted for $7.5 million in unexpected expenses annually.
Here is the good news.
By asset tagging medical equipment, hospitals and ASCs can significantly reduce costs.
Here is how.
Stop Over-Purchasing Equipment You Already Own
One of the easiest ways hospitals can waste money is buying equipment they already have but cannot locate. With a clean, validated inventory, and asset-tagged equipment departments know exactly what is on hand and what can be redeployed before new purchases are made. This prevents thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars in unnecessary capital spending each year.
Reduce Rental Costs by Finding Underused Assets
Hospitals often rent stretchers, pumps, or specialty devices because staff cannot locate existing units quickly. Accurate inventory paired with proper asset tags helps clinical teams find equipment faster and by extension reduces rental fees and temporary costs.
Improve Preventive Maintenance Compliance
When equipment is properly tagged and tracked, it is far easier to maintain a compliant preventive maintenance (PM) program. Better PM compliance means fewer breakdowns, reduced emergency repairs, and longer equipment life cycles. All of which impact the bottom line.
Extend Equipment Lifespan Through Better Visibility
When clinicians know exactly what devices are in service, and how often they are used, they can balance workloads across assets. Spreading usage across multiple devices slows wear, extends the life of high-demand equipment, and helps reduce replacement costs.
Streamline Capital Planning and Budgeting
A complete and accurate inventory gives hospital leaders a clear picture of end-of-life assets, upcoming replacement needs, and equipment condition. This can yield smarter budgeting, justification for capital requests, and fewer last-minute surprises.
Reduce Time Lost Searching for Equipment
Nurses and techs can spend hours every week searching for equipment. When devices are tagged and able to be tracked, clinical staff spend less time hunting and more time with patients. The end result, less unproductive time and more staff satisfaction.
Support Better Regulatory Readiness
Accurate inventory also helps ensure hospitals and ASC’s can quickly produce compliance documentation for The Joint Commission and other regulatory bodies. Avoiding citations, delays, or repeat surveys helps keep operations running smoothly as well as avoiding the punitive costs associated with non-compliance.
Prevent “Ghost Assets” That Drain Resources
Ghost assets, items that appear in inventory but no longer exist, create budget confusion, inflate asset values, and distort depreciation schedules. Removing ghost assets helps finance teams produce cleaner, more accurate reporting that can eliminate service contract spending on items that are not there.
Reduce Service Contract and Warranty Waste
Hospitals sometimes pay for service contracts on devices that are no longer in use, missing, or already covered by warranty. With a verified inventory, these discrepancies are easy to identify and correct. Verified inventory very often yields significant savings related to service contracts.
Facilitate Faster Emergency Response and Surge Planning
With accurate inventory healthcare facilities know exactly how many ventilators, beds, pumps, monitors, and critical support devices are available at any given time. This information helps prevent over-ordering associated with emergency situations and reduces expedited shipping or last-minute rental costs.
And yet, despite the cost-saving benefits of asset tagging, the nationwide BMET shortage is making it increasingly difficult for hospitals and ASCs to keep up with essential inventory and tagging tasks.
The Growing Reality of the BMET Shortage in Healthcare
The nationwide shortage of Biomedical Equipment Technicians (BMETs) is creating challenges for hospitals working to manage growing inventories of complex medical devices.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are about 7,300 annual openings for BMET’s projected between 2024-2034 and that the job growth for this occupation is projected to by 13% over the same ten years. Conversely, there are only 400 BMET graduates entering the fields each year (citation).
With fewer technicians available, even routine tasks, like tracking equipment locations, verifying maintenance status, and preventing loss, become harder to stay ahead of, leading to rising operational costs and unnecessary downtime. This makes strong asset management practices more important than ever. By implementing reliable asset tagging strategies, hospitals can minimize many of the pain points caused by the BMET shortfall. For healthcare organizations who need to offset their in-house BMET staff with external, certified BMET’s, CME Corp. employed BMETs can conduct full scale medical equipment inventory audits, as well as inspect and asset tag incoming equipment orders.
Partner with CME Corp. for Asset Tagging Services
Biomedical services have been at the heart of CME for over forty-five years. We are the only medical equipment distributor nationwide with an in-house team of biomedical technicians available to conduct asset tagging, asset inventory, medical equipment check-in, preventive maintenance, and equipment repair.
CME Corp. BMET teams recently helped an east coast hospital remove $500,000 of lost, missing, or broken medical equipment from the books. Following the acquisition of several new facilities the hospital contracts CME to conduct a full equipment audit, locating, inventorying, and asset tagging over 6,000 pieces of equipment.
While these are impressive numbers, another project with NewYork Presbyterian, saw CME BMET’s locating and tagging over 100,000 pieces of medical equipment across 9 facilities.
Connect with us to learn more about CME’s Biomedical and Technical services.
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.
