Biomedical maintenance: 6 costly mistakes
A piece of medical equipment out of service means a care station that no longer works, patients to redirect and a team reorganising in a hurry. Many long periods of downtime are not caused by the complexity of the device, but by decisions taken — or overlooked — well before the breakdown. Here are six common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
1. Buying without planning for after-sales service
The purchase price is only part of the acquisition. A high-performing device with no technician able to intervene, and no clear channel for reporting a fault, soon becomes a burden for the facility. Service conditions are negotiated at the time of purchase, not on the day the device stops.
- Who handles installation and commissioning.
- Who intervenes in the event of a breakdown, and with what response time.
- How a service request is submitted, and to whom.
- Which geographical areas are covered.
These points belong in the specifications, alongside the technical characteristics of the device.
2. Neglecting preventive maintenance
Waiting for a breakdown before intervening seems economical, until the day the device stops in the middle of activity. Preventive maintenance means inspecting, cleaning, calibrating and replacing wear parts before they cause a shutdown. Its frequency and content are defined according to the manufacturer's recommendations, set out in the device documentation.
Schedule these operations in advance, in agreement with the user departments, so that they do not fall when the device is most in demand. And keep a record of every inspection carried out: it is the only way to know the real condition of the equipment fleet.
3. Keeping no inventory or history
Without an up-to-date inventory, it is impossible to answer simple questions: how many devices of this type are in service, where they are, which ones are reaching the end of their warranty. Without a history, every breakdown is treated as the first, when it may have been recurring for months.
- The brand, model and serial number of each device.
- The department and location where it is installed.
- The commissioning date and warranty conditions.
- Every intervention: date, reason, work carried out, parts replaced.
A simple shared spreadsheet, kept rigorously, is worth more than software that nobody updates.
4. Forgetting consumables and accessories
A device in perfect condition can remain unusable for lack of a sensor, a cable, a patient circuit or a filter. Consumables and accessories are often left out of the purchase contract, then bought in a hurry when they run out.
From the time of purchase, draw up the list of required accessories and consumables with their references, and include them in the operating budget. Also check the compatibility of the accessories you already own: a similar reference is not always interchangeable. The references of our ranges can be consulted in the catalogue.
5. Training users insufficiently
Some breakdown calls actually concern a setting, a misunderstood alarm or a wrongly connected accessory. A team that knows the device poorly uses it less well, treats it less carefully and reports less precisely what is wrong.
- Train users in start-up, routine settings and reading alarms.
- Train biomedical technicians in the first-level checks specified by the manufacturer.
- Repeat the training when new staff arrive.
- Keep the user manual accessible close to the device.
6. Reporting a fault without the useful information
“The device no longer works” does not make it possible to prepare an intervention. The technician then has to call back, ask the basic questions, sometimes travel once just to observe the problem, then return with the right part. A complete report saves that time.
- The brand and model of the device.
- Its serial number.
- The symptoms observed, and since when.
- The error message displayed, word for word, or a photo of the screen.
- Whether the device is out of service or still usable.
An online service request
Medico Medline provides after-sales service for the equipment it distributes in Algeria: a team of more than 5 technicians intervenes across the 69 wilayas, within 48 working hours of your call. To send us a complete request, use the form on the after-sales service page: state the device, its serial number and what is happening, and the request goes directly to the after-sales service. For a breakdown that puts a device out of service, also call us directly. For any other question, our contact page remains at your disposal.