- Leading Healthcare Network Case Study -

Mobile Medical Cart Maintenance

Futura Maintenance Solutions

Leading Healthcare Network

A leading Healthcare Network comprised of multiple hospital campuses plus numerous health centers, physician practices, rehabilitation locations, and other outpatient care locations. Its employees provide compassionate healthcare of superior quality and value, supported by education clinical research, for the residents of seven counties in the Northeast.

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The Challenge
What we needed to overcome

As hospital carts go, so goes patient care.

A valuable extension of healthcare technology, these workstations on wheels, or WOWs, are rolling offices for nurses that allow them to tend to patients and document the specific care and medications provided at bedside. So any cart defect, damage, or malfunction that slows down the caregiving process and keeps nurses and colleagues from doing their jobs creates dissatisfaction that can ripple across the caregiving spectrum, affecting clinicians, patients, and even patients’ families.

COVID-19 virus pressures also impeded the workflow for nurses. New protocols required the customer to block off rooms, meaning that nurses could not enter them to both access the carts and assess functionality. Neither could technicians enter them to remove carts and make any necessary repairs.

In the past, all break-fix repairs were handled internally – not by IT, but by Plant Engineering. With a large fleet of carts, it was not uncommon to have up to 50% of them out of service and sitting idly by in the “WOW graveyard” at any given time due to wheels falling off, power cords fraying or not charging, and other factors.

With each cart costing thousands of dollars, and the number of unusable carts reaching critical mass, they turned to Futura to help get their arms around the challenges of:

  • Managing their sizable fleet of carts across a large, expanding footprint.

  • Keeping carts and the peripherals installed on each functioning properly.

  • Convincing nurses to submit repair tickets for damaged carts so requests can be recorded, issues identified, and repairs made.

  • Reducing the long lead time for replacement parts and break-fix resolution.

"Our relationship with Futura has enabled us to develop a partnership we can trust – one that has been proven to bring value to the organization to help our colleagues provide better patient care."

Director of Technology
 

The Solution
Maintenance Solutions

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Futura’s ongoing, strategic advisor relationship with this healthcare provider, and its experience with mobility hardware, proved critical. After assessing the cart landscape, they developed a plan based on the total number of carts, where the carts were located within the network, and how many tickets were being written over a fixed period.

The plan aimed to expedite cart break-fix issues and ensure faster cart repair through better process management, visibility, and oversight. Working closely with the customer as their single point of contact, the Futura team:

  • Set up a Cart Maintenance and Management Plan with two tracks:

    • A fixed maintenance program that enabled Futura technicians to come on site three days a week and perform break-fix services.

    • A preventative maintenance program that got Futura technicians on site to physically inspect carts and peripherals and do preventativemaintenance checks to confirm all assets were in proper working order. As repair tickets are received from end users and recorded, Futura will dispatch technicians to various customer sites for remediation.

  • Eliminated the long lead times for spare parts deliveries from the manufacturers.

    • Built a list of parts that failed most often.

    • Established a spare parts pool on site with inventory thresholds.

    • When parts reach their low limit, automatic requests are generated, the replacement parts are ordered, and the inventory is replenished.

  • Used the Futura Customer Care Portal to provide all stakeholders with greater visibility and access into repair ticket status and tracking.

  • Assumed management of all warranty work performed on behalf of the customer and negotiated favorable terms in manufacturers’ warranties up front.

 

The Solution
Maintenance Solutions

Futura’s ongoing, strategic advisor relationship with this healthcare provider, and its experience with mobility hardware, proved critical. After assessing the cart landscape, they developed a plan based on the total number of carts, where the carts were located within the network, and how many tickets were being written over a fixed period.

The plan aimed to expedite cart break-fix issues and ensure faster cart repair through better process management, visibility, and oversight. Working closely with the customer as their single point of contact, the Futura team:

  • Set up a Cart Maintenance and Management Plan with two tracks:

    • A fixed maintenance program that enabled Futura technicians to come on site three days a week and perform break-fix services.

    • A preventative maintenance program that got Futura technicians on site to physically inspect carts and peripherals and do preventativemaintenance checks to confirm all assets were in proper working order. As repair tickets are received from end users and recorded, Futura will dispatch technicians to various customer sites for remediation.

  • Eliminated the long lead times for spare parts deliveries from the manufacturers.

    • Built a list of parts that failed most often.

    • Established a spare parts pool on site with inventory thresholds.

    • When parts reach their low limit, automatic requests are generated, the replacement parts are ordered, and the inventory is replenished.

  • Used the Futura Customer Care Portal to provide all stakeholders with greater visibility and access into repair ticket status and tracking.

  • Assumed management of all warranty work performed on behalf of the customer and negotiated favorable terms in manufacturers’ warranties up front.


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Results
Driving better patient outcomes

Futura’s cart maintenance solution provided the healthcare provider with immediate positive outcomes:

  • Dramatic improvements in response time and issue resolution that helped maximize cart usability.

  • Cart uptime increased to over 90% because of implementing Futura’s maintenance solution.

  • Having the spare parts pool on site took away the pain associated with the long lead times for parts delivery.

  • Older carts were repurposed and set up under tents in outdoor clinics to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

  • Maintenance program success helped the customer improve patient outcomes.

  • Increased operational efficiency and enhanced clinician engagement.

"At the end of the day, patients must have what they need to heal, and our reliance on Futura Healthcare as a trusted advisor is paramount to making that happen."

Certified Clinical Informaticist

Next Steps

As the healthcare network continues to grow and acquire assets, all legacy carts it inherits will be evaluated through Futura’s maintenance program with all break-fix-restore work completed before they are added to their cart fleet.

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Futura Healthcare is a trusted industry partner delivering end-to-end healthcare technology solutions. We deploy best-of-breed technologies – from mobility hardware and eLearning to advisory services and consulting – helping healthcare institutions achieve their strategic goals of improved patient outcomes, operational efficiency, and enhanced clinician engagement.

 

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