NEW

GE HealthCare Preps for SIR 2024

GE HealthCare will showcase its latest technologies in image guiding solutions, surgery, ultrasound and CT-navigation at the upcoming 2024 Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Annual Scientific Meeting taking place March 23-28 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The...

Samsung Accepts Healthcare Innovator Award

Boston Imaging, the United States headquarters of Samsung’s digital radiography and ultrasound business, was awarded HHM Health’s Healthcare Innovator Award

AHRA Co-Founder Passes Away

On March 2, 2024, Louise Broadley passed away at 101 years old. AHRA shared the news via an email and website post that reads, “She was a noble woman, who not only achieved many milestones within the imaging profession, but likewise paved the way for aspiring leaders...

Artificial Intelligence Paper Outlines FDA’s Approach to Protect Public Health and Promote Ethical Innovation

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its “Artificial Intelligence and Medical Products: How CBER, CDER, CDRH, and OCP are Working Together,” which outlines how FDA’s medical product centers are working together to protect public health while...

Documentation, Learn to Love it!

The truth of the modern world of medical imaging is: If you did not document it, it did not happen!  The requirements for documentation are ever expanding. Preventive maintenance (PM), Field Change Orders, Recalls, and corrective maintenance have to be documented.  The various licensing bodies, accreditation requirements, and even some insurance may require access to the service information of any given piece of equipment.  By resisting documentation, a shop or an Independent Service Organization (ISO) may be missing out on a very powerful tool.

Most documentation is now kept on a relational database of one type or another.  These are often integrated with purchasing and labor systems to help calculate actual cost of equipment ownership.  This allows for tracking of any number of data points that can give helpful information to the equipment owner, capital fund manager, and service personnel.  But that is only if it is kept accurate.

Let’s face it, you don’t want to do “paperwork.”  The average Field Service Engineer (FSE) would like to just fix equipment, and go home at the end of the day.  “All that documentation is a waste of time…” and “I am too busy to do paperwork every time I replace a fuse.”  These are commonly heard comments in any shop.

First the term “paperwork” needs to go.  What is being done now is “digital documentation.”  However, the term “documentation” will serve for most conversations.  The fact that it is digital provides an opportunity.  Documentation can be used as a very powerful tool.  Consider all of the information that can be made available. With accurate data, there are many hospitals that will be able to take equipment to an Alternative Equipment Management (AEM) program.

But what can a FSE or manager gain from digital documentation?  That depends on what you put into the documentation.  If phrases such as, “repaired unit” or “replaced broken parts” are the extent of the documentation, there is not much.  However, if the actual data is recorded in the service report of a broken item, such as voltages, error codes, and detailed repair notes it becomes a tool.  The documentation can be not only a record for what has happened, but a road map for service when the same error occurs again.  If serial numbers of parts are entered in the documentation, as refurbished parts become more and more common, a specific recycled part can be marked as a lemon.  Average cost of yearly maintenance can be used for budgeting.  Tracking core exchanges becomes easier if PO, tracking numbers, and costs are listed.  In short, the more you put into it the more you get out of it.

One of the big advantages of accurate and thorough documentation is a justification for the FSE position that is held.  The average FSE can show a return on investment of ten to twenty times the salary and benefits they are paid.  With everyone looking to cut costs, this reason alone should be enough to convince everyone that documentation is worth the time investment.

 

John has twenty years experience in imaging service including general radiation, mammography, CT, and Nuclear Medicine. He has worked for third party service companies, manufacturers sales companies, and in house imaging teams. Currently John is managing imaging service for two hospitals and six out patient centers for Kettering Health Network. John holds a B.S. in Health and Human Services Management from Wilberforce University.

Previous

Next

1 Comment

  1. Alan Moretti

    It has been said many times – “the weakest link-in-the chain of any service organization is paperwork”. Service report documentation and accuracy of its content provides the corner-stone base for all measurements of performance, authentication, fiduciary responsibility in enabling the “ultimate strength” to a service organization’s (in-house, ISO and OEM) ability in achieving success or failure!

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Open