As we have leaped into this exciting New Year of 2016, the anticipation in some circles of the HTM community is this may be the time “Alternative Equipment Maintenance” (AEM) strategies will finally be that proven method. Listening to many in-house groups and some outsourcing vendors these past few years who have been “banking” on this “AEM” method as opposed to following the manufacturer’s preventive maintenance recommended frequncies and some procedures– the answer may finally reside in 2016.
The past year of 2015, as many articles on this topic have spoken to, clearly was one of still ambiguity and lack of sustainable data to support a strategy employing AEM as a viable method to meet CMS compliancy. So why has this AEM concept been such an elusive method to prove itself? The answer is a simple one – HTM service groups, both in-house and outsourcing vendors struggle in their ability to present evidence based data to support the theory of AEM as a viable strategy. Now hear me out on this – the long inconsistent service reporting methods of our HTM personal in the field are clearly a major contributor to this challenge but it’s the inability to provide good cross comparison service history and device failure analysis related to preventative maintenance performance in either an in-house department setting or out-sourcing vendor environment that really hampers this AEM methodology in being a successful option as opposed to direct following of the original manufactures maintenance frequencies and procedures. Please challenge me on this statement if you feel it is incorrect – love to hear your comments.
So where does AEM go from here? Good question, my belief is that it is still “stuck in the gate” without much hope in being a viable medical equipment maintenance method. Oh, the HTM community will continue to wallow over this topic and express their discontent but in the final analysis – the OEM’s recommended maintenance frequencies and procedures will be the standard of choice to be followed by the HTM service professional.