TRIMEDX Vice President of Mobile Equipment Services Amy Knue recently contributed a piece in Medical Device News Magazine on ways that a proper mobile medical equipment management system can help decrease the burden for clinicians.
Every day, 1-in-31 U.S. hospital patients contract an infection associated with their hospital care. Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) have high morbidity and mortality, and the top five infection causes cost the healthcare system $9.8 billion annually. As health systems explore approaches to decrease that number, one strategy to consider is a mobile medical equipment management (MME) program.
Mobile Medical Equipment (MME) is utilized by nearly every hospital patient and moves throughout the facility, creating the potential to carry harmful bacteria and/or bioburden and cause infections. MME—like infusion pumps, feeding pumps, and sequential compression devices—makes up 90% of a typical healthcare facility’s equipment. These machines are often hard to locate and challenging to keep clean, but they are vital for patient care.
Implementing an MME management program can improve device cleanliness and enhance care efficiency, both of which can contribute to reduced HAI. The impact on patient safety doesn’t stop at infection prevention—the program lessens nurse burnout and turnover and maximizes the availability and usage of MME.