From the November 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
 
4. Delay equipment purchases in the short term
Larger health care facilities often have an advantage here, as they can afford to take larger risks in delaying equipment purchases as long as equipment is strategically redundant across an organization. Smaller organizations do not always have this luxury. Facilities can extend the life cycle of aged equipment wherever possible, assuming that it does not create unplanned downtime. Talk to your equipment service provider about potential technology upgrades on older systems that may give you functionality for a few more years at lower operating costs.
 
5. Replace older equipment in the long term

In the case that equipment has aged to the point that it is no longer economically feasible to maintain, facilities must look for newer replacements. Regardless of whether a facility purchases new or refurbished equipment, or chooses to delay replacement, in all cases an asset management strategy should be implemented. The asset management strategy should focus on maintenance and overall equipment life cycle management.
New managed services and enterprise partnership models with service providers offer a way to centralize technology management efforts. These partnership arrangements typically include technology planning and services, education and training, business and clinical consulting, patient-centric design and other value-added services. Institutions with an aging technology base and capital constraints may realize significant cost improvements and transformation gains by means of this model.
 
Before taking any or all of these steps, a health care facility may consider partnering with a service provider that can analyze cost and operational efficiencies. Once armed with benchmarking information, hospitals and care centers may implement a plan to efficiency.
 
Anne Papik is the senior director, customer services operations, Philips North America.

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