What To Do If Your Medical Equipment Is Out Of Date

There is a belief that the newest is the best that innovation is the key to advancement, and medical science can be no different. The newest medical equipment has to be better than last years device, and the drive to get that new, improved, better than ever thing can consume us all.

But this might not be the best way to look at your medical equipment. Yes, a new fresh solution may be needed. Here may be a persistent problem that can be solved only with the newest and best piece of equipment. And in that lies the secret: need.

Before you replace or even upgrade that piece of instrumentation, there are a few things that you need to ask.

• Has a new problem come up? Age of an instrument should not be the overriding factor in whether or not to replace a piece of medical equipment. If your needs have changed or there is a new challenge, then a new piece of instrumentation might be in order
• Have the operational cost changed? If it is now more expensive to run your machine than it was last year, a change might be in order. But before looking at a whole scale refit, a change in supplier might solve the problem.
• Have the diagnostic needs changed? If your patient population has changed, and changed dramatically, that new instrument may be collecting dust. Your instrumentation has to be able to adapt to your patients. If a new piece of equipment is necessary to provide the best standard of care for your patients, you may need to upgrade regardless of the age and condition of your current equipment.
• Has the instrument’s accuracy changed? Check your control numbers for a set period. If there is a trend away from the set norm, some kind of correction will be needed. Question the manufacturer’s technical people, and don’t rely only on the salesmen.
• Is the warranty on your machines expired, or about to expire? You need to ask yourself how often you used the warranty. If service calls were frequent and necessary to keep it running, see if you can extend the warranty without replacing the machine. On the other hand, did all those calls interfere with the production of results? If it did, replacement might be the best option.