Healthcare Asset Management: What It is and Its Benefits
Managing healthcare assets can be challenging, but the right healthcare asset management software makes it easier. Here’s what you need to know.
In this article:
- What is Healthcare Asset Management?
- Why is Healthcare Asset Management Important?
- Top 10 Hospital Assets Examples Tracked by Asset Management
- 8 Benefits of Healthcare Asset Management
- 1. Improve Patient Care
- 2. Reduces Errors
- 3. Prevents Theft and Loss of Assets
- 4. Provides Accurate Asset Reports
- 5. Reduce Long-term Costs
- 6. Increases Staff Productivity
- 7. Reduce Regulatory Compliance Risks
- 8. Safe Disposal of Medical Waste
- Improve Healthcare Asset Management with Itefy
Managing assets in a healthcare setting can be quite challenging, especially when it involves equipment like ventilators, infusion pumps, and MRI machines.
That’s where healthcare asset management software comes in handy. It’s a system that tracks everything from small tools to expensive machines. This ensures that every piece of equipment is available and ready to use when the need arises.
Hospital asset management also helps in tracking assets and making sure that the equipment is in top condition, reducing overall hospital expenses and improving business operations.
Now, let’s discuss it in detail.
What is Healthcare Asset Management?
Healthcare asset management refers to the systematic and strategic approach used by hospitals and healthcare facilities to manage their medical assets. This process includes, planning, acquiring, maintaining, utilizing, and disposing. It’s also called asset lifecycle management, which eventually improves patient care and enhances efficiency.
Asset management includes both physical and tangible assets. For example, physical assets include machinery and other equipment. Meanwhile, tangible assets are non-physical assets, such as management software, patient data, and digital records.
According to Precedence Research, the healthcare asset management market size is expected to reach 312.23 billion U.S. dollars by 2034. This highlights the increasing demand for competent healthcare operations and adoption of advanced asset management technologies.
Bar graph showing predicted healthcare asset management market size
Source: Precedence Research
Why is Healthcare Asset Management Important?
For hospitals and any other healthcare setting, it’s absolutely necessary to have fully functional equipment at all times. If there’s even the slightest of negligence, a patient can lose his/her life. This is primarily the reason why medical device asset management software is mandatory now.
By using a healthcare asset management software, hospitals can:
- Help staff quickly find medical equipment in real-time.
- Lower costs by reducing the need to replace lost or stolen items.
- Track an asset’s return on investment and its real value.
- Provide accurate data on how often assets are used and how well they perform.
- Improve inventory management and make tracking easier.
- Optimize the use of physical space and keep equipment storage organized.
Apart from simple tracking and maintenance, healthcare asset care management also provides detailed reports on the usage of equipment on a daily basis. With this information, hospital management can save up to 15% in supply chain costs.
Decrease in supply chain costs after using a hospital asset management system
Source: HIT Consultant Media
Top 10 Hospital Assets Examples Tracked by Asset Management
Below are the hospital assets examples which can be tracked and managed by a hospital asset management system.
1. Medical Equipment
2. Hospital Furniture
3. IT and Communication Equipment
4. Support and Hospital Infrastructure
5. Medical Supplies & Pharmaceuticals
6. Hospital Fixed Assets List
Let’s take a look at the list of the four most common hospital fixed assets.
8 Benefits of Healthcare Asset Management
After a long discussion, we’re finally at the benefits of using healthcare asset management. So, without dragging it, let’s take a look at how asset care management benefits hospitals.
1. Improve Patient Care
When equipment is readily available, it automatically improves patient care. With proper tracking and maintenance, hospitals can reduce downtime and ensure that all patients receive treatments on time.
Well-maintained devices lead to improved diagnostic accuracy and smoother procedures, which directly enhance patient outcomes. In fact, hospitals with effective asset management systems report faster response times and fewer delays in patient care.
2. Reduces Errors
If any of the equipment malfunctions or gets misplaced, it can lead to serious errors in the healthcare setting. By using a healthcare asset management system, hospitals can reduce or even eliminate these risks.
As you know, these systems track the status of every asset and ensure that it is well-maintained and located in the right place.
3. Prevents Theft and Loss of Assets
Hospitals often have to face issues related to theft and loss of expensive medical equipment. Do you know that it takes around $2 million per year to replace lost or stolen equipment for a 500-bed hospital?
However, by using an asset management system, hospitals can easily track their assets. Through the QR code integration feature, hospitals can prevent theft and any loss of assets.
Money spent by a hospital to replace lost or stolen equipment each year
Source: LinkedIn
4. Provides Accurate Asset Reports
An important feature of clinical asset management is its ability to provide detailed reports on the usage, status, and condition of assets. With the help of these reports, hospitals can make data-driven decisions regarding repairs, replacement and purchases.
With an asset management system for healthcare, hospitals invest in the right equipment and avoid unnecessary expenditures. This level of transparency makes it easier to manage inventory and forecast future needs.
5. Reduce Long-term Costs
Hospital asset management systems create a preventive maintenance schedule for assets. This way they last longer and reduce the need for expensive replacements.
Additionally, asset management systems minimize unnecessary purchases by tracking the usage and condition of existing equipment. These systems also have an equipment maintenance log to keep track of asset maintenance.
6. Increases Staff Productivity
If something goes missing or malfunctions, it can waste the valuable time of the hospital staff.
However, with the help of healthcare asset tracking in place, hospital staff can easily locate equipment which significantly improves staff productivity.
Time that was previously spent searching for equipment can now be redirected toward patient care.
7. Reduce Regulatory Compliance Risks
For healthcare, it’s a top priority to comply with regulatory standards.
Asset management systems help automate compliance-related tasks such as maintenance schedules and inspections. This way, all your equipment meets safety standards.
8. Safe Disposal of Medical Waste
Proper disposal of medical waste is essential for environmental and health safety. Mismanagement of waste can lead to fines or health risks.
Asset management systems help track and document waste disposal processes. It ensures hospitals comply with environmental regulations.
Improve Healthcare Asset Management with Itefy
If you're a hospital manager, or you have a healthcare setting that needs managing, start by using healthcare asset management software. It will make your departments much more efficient, reduce overall costs, and improve patient care.
Itefy offers a Medical Equipment Management Software that assists hospitals in managing medical and healthcare equipment with a centralized, cloud-based tracking system.
Try it out for free today and watch how our software will optimize your healthcare setting and improve patient care!
Frequently Asked Questions
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Some examples of healthcare assets include:
Machinery – Medical devices like MRI machines and ventilators.
Medication – Pharmaceuticals used for patient treatment.
Employees – Doctors, nurses, and staff.
Patient documents – Medical records and patient information files.
Equipment – Tools such as infusion pumps and surgical instruments. -
Hospital asset management involves improving, repairing, and maintaining hospital assets, including land, equipment, and buildings. By using an asset management plan or software, hospitals can save money, extend the life of hospital assets, and prevent unexpected repairs. This ensures that the equipment and facility remain in perfect condition.