CME Insider's Blog Posts

Technology these days is amazing. It seems that whatever information we need is just a click away.

This is especially true in healthcare. Gone are the days of waiting for records from another provider or standing watch over the FAX machine to grab sensitive Personal Health Information (PHI) before someone who shouldn’t, sees it.

Although it’s a bit cliché, local Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and the bigger Electronic Health Record (EHR) landscape have revolutionized how we diagnose and treat patients. They have created integrated care.

How does it all work?

Picture this: It's a crisp, cool evening at Metro General Hospital. The halls echo with the whirr of machines, the soft shuffle of nurses’ shoes, and occasional bursts of urgent conversation. The emergency department is nearing capacity, patients lining the corridors on gurneys as they await attention. In this chaotic symphony of care, there's an unsettling undercurrent. The hospital, like many others across the globe, is grappling with a severe staffing shortage.

Nurses are overworked, physicians are stretched thin, and the administrative staff is in constant juggling mode.

Emergency care is delayed, elective surgeries are postponed, and routine patient follow-ups are being compromised.

The resulting strain on patient care and staff morale is palpable. The administration is left grappling with an enormous challenge: how to provide optimal care with a fraction of the required workforce.

Enter the innovative solution of mobile telehealth carts - a solution offered by pioneers like First Products.

FIRST provides mobile mounting solutions for telehealth tablets, PCs, laptops, cameras, and other technology devices, helping teams overcome labor shortages in demanding work environments.

Independence comes in many forms.

For many it is the freedom to “age in place” at home or go about daily activities without assistance following an illness, accident, or surgery.

Physical therapy and rehabilitation often begin in the acute care environment but continue after a patient is discharged. It is not surprising then that rehabilitation centers are popping up everywhere to help aging baby boomers and those with medical conditions maintain their independence.

With the outpatient rehabilitation center market projected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 6% ¹ between 2022 and 2027, it is important to consider exactly what equipment is needed to prepare a rehabilitation center for positive patient outcomes.

Biomedical departments in large healthcare systems play a vital role in the:

• Inspection of new equipment, pre-acceptance checks, asset-tagging, and training
• Maintenance of all equipment and monitoring service contracts
• Managing required monthly preventive maintenance schedules for equipment
• Maintaining an inventory of new and existing equipment
• Capital budgeting, equipment evaluation, purchasing equipment, and analyzing the total cost of ownership
• Monitoring equipment recall notifications, maintaining regulatory compliance, and reporting to safety committees.

Today healthcare systems are challenged by an aging population and staffing shortages. Biomed departments are no exception and are also being stretched to the limit. CME Corp's Biomedical Technicians are available to supplement biomedical departments in healthcare systems and facilities across the United States.

These days it is hard to imagine a time when

• buildings had doorways that were too narrow for wheelchairs;
• parking lots did not have designated spaces close to an entrance for Americans with mobility challenges; and
• signs forbidding service animals were posted in public buildings.

Through standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) all public buildings and businesses must be accessible to everyone. Today website accessibility for hearing and sight impairment as well as disabilities that affect the ability to grasp and use a mouse are hot topics.

But accessibility is about more than buildings and web browsing. It is also about ensuring medical equipment is not a barrier to comprehensive and accurate healthcare for people with mobility challenges.

For example, how thoroughly can a healthcare provider examine a patient in a wheelchair versus examining that same patient on an exam table?

It's the Little Things: Medical Equipment’s Big Impact on Patient Experience

These days understanding why a patient is satisfied (or dissatisfied) is key to creating positive future experiences.

Experience encompasses more than the overall perception of care that is often based on preconceived ideas. The ease of making an appointment and interacting with medical personnel, the environment of the medical facility, understanding of treatment plans, post visit or procedure instructions, and financial arrangements all contribute to a patient’s experience.

And let’s not underestimate the impact the little things like the comfort of medical devices and equipment can have on a patient’s experience.

Medical Equipment with a Big Impact

TakeBlood Pressure Cuffsfor example. The simple change of taking a measurement on the inflate cycle versus the deflate cycle makes blood pressure readings more comfortable for the patient while maintaining the accuracy of the data.

Replace Or Repair Medical Equipment - How Do You Decide?

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:

The CME Corp. Government Team has over 30 years of government sales experience and the resources to make your projects and everyday purchasing go smoothly from start to finish. Whether you are purchasing a singular replacement product or outfitting a new facility, remodeling or expanding an existing location, our project planning, turnkey logistics, and services are completely tailored to meet government client’s needs. CME can assist you with identifying and procuring healthcare equipment for all your government projects, whether for DoD, VA, Indian Health, state, or local government facilities. To make acquisition of product easier, we hold major federal contracts including a Federal Supply Schedule, GSA, DoD ECAT, DoD DAPA. We are also and contracted supplier for some State / Local government co-ops / gpo’s.

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.