CME Insider's Blog Posts

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.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States generated 600 million tons of construction and demolition waste in 2018 (this is the most current data available) with approximately 180 million tons of that waste associated with building construction and demolition. Sadly, only 38% of this debris was recycled. These are mind-boggling numbers and many are looking for ways to reduce waste before it even gets to the project site.

CME has been working to decrease the amount of waste generated at a construction site for years.  Not only is it important from a green perspective but decreasing waste at a construction site also helps the healthcare facility streamline activities at the site and ultimately facilitates on-time construction schedules.  All of these factors are extremely important to healthcare facilities.  

In the spring of 2022, CME Corp was awarded an $8.7M project from the prime contractor providing Initial, Outfitting and Transition (IO&T) services, to outfit 43 U.S. Army Wellness Centers (AWC) across the U.S. The project was large, complicated, with many moving parts. Some reasons CME won the bid was their vast experience in providing Direct-to-Site delivery services under adverse conditions and their ability to be nimble.

Healthcare facilities need the right equipment – delivered on time – to operate at peak efficiency and effectiveness.

Throughout the process, facilities need to be able to function seamlessly, without disrupting employees’ duties or patient care. This can become even more difficult if your facility is having multiple large pieces of equipment from many different manufacturers received and delivered to a new or remodeled location.

Working with a GPO allows hospitals to benefit from the buying power of combining hundreds of healthcare facilities.  This is a well-known fact among buyers and purchasing managers as it relates to purchasing products from manufacturers.  

However, knowledge of the role that a medical distributor can play in the procurement and delivery services provided through a GPO is far less common.  A medical distributor can save you time and money by providing value added services focused on ordering efficiency and streamlining the delivery process.

Buying equipment is not easy. There needs to be extensive research, at times, to find the right product that meets the needs of the users, fits the space, and communicates with the healthcare facility’s EMR, if required. Once you find the right products, whether it is for replacement or a new construction project, you need a timely, comprehensive quote that includes total costs.

As the nation continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, economies are beginning to re-open, and it may be time to start planning your new hospital construction or renovation projects. Where do you begin? How can you even source and procure your equipment when it may or not be backordered?

Veterans Homes are facilities that provide nursing home, assisted living, and adult day care services for American Veterans. They are owned, operated, and managed by state governments and further funded by the federal government. In 2018, approximately 7% of our population were veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Even though the Veteran population has been shrinking, the percentage of Veterans with disabilities is growing, which makes Veterans Homes even more essential. CME Corp is proud to work with many states in providing products and services for new or renovated Veterans Homes. Recently, CME partnered with Rhode Island on their new, 208-bed Bristol Veterans Home to source, procure, assemble, and install the requested medical equipment, furniture, and physical therapy apparatus. 

If you are in charge of ordering medical equipment for a hospital or healthcare facility, you understand the challenges. You’ve searched for easier ways to manage the process, but everything seems to fall short. So what do you really need for ease of mind when it comes to dealing with medical equipment ordering?

We’ve compiled a list of factors you should look for to make the lives of hospital purchasing agents and department managers less stressful.