Balancing Technology and Service Expertise for Reliable Imaging Performance

By Eric Massey

According to a report by Business Wire, the global market for medical imaging equipment services was estimated at $20.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach a revised size of $29.7 billion by 2030.

Remote monitoring is not just about automation. It’s about empowering engineers with better information to deliver high-quality service. By integrating real-time data insights with hands-on problem-solving, hospitals can achieve greater reliability, efficiency, and cost savings. While predictive alerts help prevent some failures, skilled engineers remain essential for troubleshooting, repairs, and calibrations. Technology alone cannot replace the judgment, precision, and problem-solving capabilities of experienced professionals.

Strategically combining remote monitoring with onsite service allows hospitals and service providers to proactively address maintenance needs, optimize workforce utilization, and ensure uninterrupted imaging services. This balanced approach enhances equipment reliability, minimizes operational disruptions, and ultimately enables health care providers to focus on delivering high-quality patient care.

BENEFITS OF REMOTE MONITORING

• Enhancing Onsite Efficiency: Remote monitoring amplifies the effectiveness of onsite engineers by providing actionable insights before they arrive. While remote alerts help anticipate potential failures, final diagnosis and resolution still require hands-on expertise.

At a client location recently, remote access alerted us to a compressor failure in an MRI system over a long holiday weekend. The imaging center was closed, and without remote access, we wouldn’t have known until Monday. Remote monitoring detected the issue early, allowing us to order a new compressor and complete the repair over the weekend – preventing significant helium loss and avoiding extended downtime.

• Optimized Resource Allocation: By functioning as a triage system, remote monitoring helps service providers prioritize onsite interventions based on issue severity. This ensures engineers focus their efforts where they are most needed, minimizing downtime and improving operational efficiency.
• Stronger Collaboration Between Technology and Expertise: Together, these elements create a comprehensive strategy for imaging equipment reliability. While remote monitoring delivers precise diagnostics, onsite engineers provide the critical thinking, adaptability, and hands-on expertise needed to implement effective solutions. By analyzing data to predict potential failures, remote monitoring helps reduce unplanned downtime and improve service operations efficiency. 
• Operational Efficiencies Beyond Repairs: 83% of health care providers claim they do not have automated visibility into their fleet-wide utilization. 
• Beyond failure prevention, remote monitoring improves operational efficiency:

–  Systemwide Performance Optimization: Provides a comprehensive view of imaging equipment across multiple locations, allowing hospitals to benchmark performance, streamline maintenance processes, and ensure consistent service quality.

–  Smart Maintenance Scheduling: By analyzing usage patterns, hospitals can strategically plan preventive maintenance during off-peak hours, minimizing disruptions to patient care.

–  Better Resource Utilization: Monitoring data helps identify underperforming or underutilized assets, ensuring imaging systems are used effectively. 

THE LIMITATIONS: NAVIGATING THE GAPS

While remote monitoring offers significant advantages, it has limitations that necessitate onsite expertise.

• Insights Alone Aren’t Enough: While remote monitoring delivers real-time data and predictive insights, its value depends on skilled engineers to interpret the information and act. Without expert analysis and intervention, data alone cannot prevent failures or optimize equipment performance. 
• Mechanical Failures Require Onsite Expertise: While remote solutions shine at diagnostics, onsite engineers remain essential for resolving mechanical issues, calibrations, or physical repairs, ensuring full functionality is restored.
• Cybersecurity Concerns: While remote monitoring systems can introduce potential entry points for unauthorized access, our approach prioritizes cybersecurity through strong encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strict access controls. These measures, combined with regular system audits, allow us to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. 

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 

Integrating Remote Monitoring with Onsite Expertise 

• Remote monitoring is not a singular fix for imaging equipment downtime. While technology enhances how we work, it’s the insight, adaptability, and expertise of our people that ensure exceptional outcomes. By combining cutting-edge platforms with the insight and care of the service teams, we deliver solutions that go beyond expectations – driving reliability, efficiency, and better patient care. 

We’re expanding our remote monitoring system’s functionality with planned CMMS integration. This will allow remote diagnostics to detect errors or failures, generate a work order, and assign it to the appropriate engineer based on service delivery plans, streamlining service coordination and improving response efficiency.

• Remote Monitoring as an Amplifier: Remote monitoring enhances onsite engineers’ efficiency by providing actionable insights before they arrive. For example, real-time diagnostics might detect a failing power cord allowing an engineer to prepare for a targeted repair bringing the correct replacement part and reduce repair time.

We’ve used remote access to detect tube failures in CT scanners and cath labs – repairs that typically take around eight hours. By identifying a failing tube early, we can replace it outside of business hours, ensuring imaging services remain uninterrupted.

• Tailored Resource Allocation: Hospitals can use remote monitoring to triage repairs, prioritizing onsite interventions based on issue severity. This approach ensures engineers focus their efforts where they are most needed, reducing downtime and improving operational efficiency.
• Collaborative Problem-Solving: Technology and human expertise must work together. Big data, AI, and human expertise each play a distinct yet complementary role in imaging equipment management. Big data serves as the vast pool of collected information, while AI and machine learning analyze patterns and predict potential failures. However, AI alone does not solve problems – it provides insights that require expert interpretation and action.

By identifying subtle performance differences, AI-driven tools allow targeted interventions before failures occur, reducing downtime and improving efficiency. Yet, engineers remain essential for interpreting AI-generated insights, implementing repairs, and ensuring imaging systems function at peak performance. The synergy between analytics and hands-on service is key to creating a proactive maintenance strategy that enhances equipment reliability and patient care. Together, they create a comprehensive strategy for imaging equipment reliability.

As healthcare technology continues to evolve, maintaining the critical systems that support it demands adaptability and forward-thinking solutions. I’d love to hear how you are using remote monitoring or AI in your daily operations. To discuss how we’re integrating data-driven insights with hands-on service – or to share your perspective on the role of AI and machine learning in the industry – reach out to Eric Massey at eric.massey@crothall.com.

— Eric Massey is a Regional Director of Operations for Crothall Healthcare. To learn more about joining the Crothall team, contact Eric at eric.massey@crothall.com.