Who has the best system when it comes to documenting equipment? D. Taylor, a clinical engineering technician III at Advocate Healthcare South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, Ill, says they use St Croix Asset Manager, and even though it has many features, it does take time to manually enter data. The team is looking for your suggestions and here’s what D. Taylor says:
“We, like many hospitals, are networked with multiple hospitals in our system. Most clinical engineering departments today have eliminated secretaries to enter data. Therefore, time is spent on the computer for e-mails, service, parts ordering, shipping, etc. Does anyone use an automated system with barcode scanners, one-page service tickets, mobile PDAs, and/or codes for service completed versus paragraph data? Who enters vendor field service reports in your system?
It appears that in the constant growth of computer systems, data entry may be falling behind in technology. What is the ratio of time spent on service versus support activities? To continue to provide a reduction in service costs for the hospital, departments must strive to reduce support activities so time can be best utilized to eliminate all outside vendor repairs.”
Can you help? Your comments are welcome. Thanks to D. Taylor for the blog and to all of you who will comment!
