Preventive maintenance software in the healthcare sector: uses and benefits
Healthcare environments are fast-paced, and staff depend on the reliability of their assets.
Medical devices are complex, and maintaining them is, to say the least, demanding.
Plus, a healthcare facility also relies on its infrastructure, from plumbing and electricity to HVACs and lighting. Downtime has potentially disastrous consequences.
Preventive maintenance software has become an indispensable tool to address the challenge of maintaining healthcare and medical assets.
What is preventive maintenance software?
Preventive maintenance software streamlines maintenance processes by scheduling, tracking, and managing tasks associated with facilities, their systems and equipment.
The primary goal is to support the maintenance and repair of medical equipment and infrastructure before failure, reducing reliance on reactive maintenance.
Run-to-fail maintenance processes cost 50% more than preventive measures and could impact the safety of patients and staff.
It’s important to note that preventive maintenance is not condition-based. Instead, preventive maintenance can be:
Time-based
e.g. maintenance is scheduled every month, 6 months, or 5 years, etc.
Usage-based
e.g. maintenance is scheduled for every 100 uses of an asset, 10,000 hours of operation, etc.
Preventive maintenance tasks range from routine inspections to more complex repairs and upgrades.
The importance of preventive maintenance in healthcare
Maintenance is a significant ongoing cost for healthcare and medical facilities.
As of 2021, the NHS had a maintenance backlog exceeding £3.2bn.
According to a study by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), healthcare organisations spend between 2% and 4% of their annual budgets on maintenance and repairs.
The same study revealed that healthcare facilities with effective preventive maintenance programs experienced a 12% to 18% reduction in equipment downtime.
Furthermore, a study from Australia highlighted that preventive maintenance had a specific impact on patient safety and clinical outcomes.
The evidence strongly indicates that preventative maintenance has the potential to enhance clinical outcomes and reduce costs.
Benefits of preventive maintenance software in H&M
Implementing preventive maintenance software in the healthcare sector has numerous benefits, such as:
Improved equipment reliability
Preventive maintenance software helps ensure that healthcare equipment is functioning optimally, reducing downtime and the risk of equipment failure. Increases in equipment reliability were associated with a 25% increase in productivity, according to Deloitte.
Increased patient safety
Preventive maintenance software contributes to a safer environment by minimising the chances of equipment malfunction.
A much-discussed 2020 study revealed that medical device-related incidents caused around 1.7 million patient injuries and almost 60,000 deaths in the US between 2008 and 2019. While many of these incidents were caused by faulty medical implants, poor or non-existent maintenance and aftercare was a major factor.
Enhanced regulatory compliance
Healthcare facilities are subject to strict regulations regarding maintenance.
Preventive maintenance software helps organisations maintain accurate records and adhere to these requirements. Accurate report-keeping is vital for internal and external auditing and accident and incident reporting.
Cost savings
Preventive maintenance software can help organisations avoid costly repairs or replacements by detecting potential issues before they develop.
This has a well-documented impact on costs. For example, an NHS report, Assets in Action, encourages preventative maintenance and collaboration between managers and maintenance teams to help the NHS overcome its £3.2bn maintenance backlog.
What to look for in preventive maintenance software
When selecting preventive maintenance software, consider the following essential features:
Compatibility with other systems and processes is paramount.
Maintenance requirements vary across different industries, and managing medical equipment and infrastructure in a hospital or clinic may differ from managing assets such as alarms and elevators in a hotel.
The most effective software offers robust core functionality adaptable to the healthcare industry’s unique needs. In addition, it should support interoperability with other systems for seamless integration.
The software should be intuitive, user-friendly, and capable of automating tasks like scheduling and prioritising maintenance work. It should also support the integration of new technologies, such as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), to enhance equipment monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Preventive maintenance software should be extensive but intuitive and easy to use.
The software should fulfil its purpose without overwhelming users with excessive features. Functions such as planned maintenance scheduling, cost tracking, work order management and task assignment should remain straightforward to use.
For instance, Infraspeak Gear makes advanced maintenance management intuitive by offering smart suggestions, automating tasks, and sending alerts.
This allows healthcare facility managers to focus on making informed decisions with minimal hassle.
It’s necessary to progress from non-intelligent maintenance software with limited scope for leveraging and transforming data.
Intelligent preventive maintenance software enables healthcare managers to:
- Prioritise assets and maintain schedules
- Organise work orders
- Assign tasks to technicians
- Track maintenance costs and other metrics
- Review and optimise maintenance processes based on findings
For example, Intelligent Maintenance Management Platforms (IMMP) offer opportunities to identify bottlenecks or issues within the healthcare maintenance pipeline. This can help healthcare organisations make strategic decisions, such as replacing a consistently challenging-to-maintain asset.
Additionally, IMMPs are extensible, allowing integration with apps and IoT sensors to create an intelligent maintenance ecosystem — a system of action.
IMMPs pave the way for more effective and efficient maintenance management in healthcare settings.
The future of preventative maintenance in H&M
The future of preventive maintenance in the healthcare sector will likely involve IMMPs.
These platforms combine various maintenance management solutions, such as work order management, asset tracking, and predictive analytics, to provide a comprehensive and unified approach to healthcare maintenance.
Additionally, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into preventive maintenance further enhances performance. Analytics and real-time reporting enable asset managers to get under the skin of their data and unlock performance gains.
These advancements enable healthcare organisations to make data-driven decisions, predict equipment failures more accurately, and optimise maintenance processes.
Infraspeak offers a class-leading IMMP with advanced preventative maintenance features for asset tracking, work order management, compliance and more.
This is a preventive maintenance solution cut out for healthcare and medical facilities.
To learn more about how our platform can help you, book a demo here.