Figuring out how to cut costs and not jobs is on everyone’s mind, and in our
September issue the article Cautious Optimism shares some great best practices on
how to whittle down expenses while saving jobs. Here’s some of what Steve
Kehrberg, VP, supply chain/clinical engineering at Catholic Health Initiatives
(CHI), Tacoma, Wash, shared.
Kehrberg has employed a multipronged strategy across CHI’s
70 hospitals, 22 states, and more than 350 clinical engineering staff members.
A repair depot for some equipment, including intermittent suction units, IV
pumps, endoscopy units, and other smaller items, has helped reduce expenses
when spread out and employed systemwide. With some small critical access
hospitals using only one biomed, and others employing 18 in-house clinical
engineering folks, Kehrberg has also transferred support from larger shops to
smaller ones to avoid using more costly service providers.
He said: “We have also looked into removing some of the
service components from some of the contracts. For example, on some of the flat
plate detectors for digital cath labs, we have removed OEM detector coverage
from the service contracts. And we are covering them in a risk pool with our
internal insurance company. Basically, we are self-insuring the glassware for
the detectors on the cath labs, and that has been successful for us.”
We’d like to know what strategies you’ve used. All are
welcome to comment on the blog so share your tips and help other departments
thrive.
