By Erin Register
David Hanna, founder of Stave Medical Equipment Services, says the business is focused on reducing the cost of ownership of medical devices. The company’s name is a reference to a specific type of drum. As a drummer, Hanna has always admired the beauty and sound of a stave constructed drum kit.
“Stave is a construction method used where individual pieces come together harmoniously to form a finished product that, if done well, becomes a precision instrument,” David explained, “The health care system is similarly made of many different areas. Each area is responsible to identify how we can cut waste and make our organizations function with efficiency and precision. Medical equipment and service contracts are just one of these areas that we can look to cut waste.”
“I have been in the HTM/clinical engineering field for 15 years, operating as a biomed and imaging technician, as well as managing in-house HTM/clinical engineering departments,” Hanna said, “I have been very fortunate throughout my career to work with incredibly talented people who have a deep love for people and their profession. I was fortunate to work for a health care system that valued lean/kaizen work, which is focused on process improvement as well as a deep level of respect for each person you work with. I started to apply this methodology to our service contracts with great success while reaching agreements with our contractors that moved us from transactional relationships to partnerships. We soon started to see this success positively impact the budget, which turned heads in finance, drawing attention to clinical engineering. Our department was also seen as contributing toward the reduction of health care costs. My desire in starting Stave is to help other health care providers achieve this same success in reducing operational costs and increasing value while strengthening vendor relationships.”
Q: Why did you choose to start this company?
A: I started Stave with a desire to live with purpose, driven by faith and family. This experience has drawn our family closer together in a way few experiences can. Professionally, I wanted to focus in an area that strengthens the local HTM/clinical engineering department and positively impact the big picture of health care expenditures.
Q: What is the main focus of Stave?
A: Our work is to help health care providers cut their costs, but our “why” is focused on helping each client toward better living. If we can research and negotiate a service contract for our clients, does that allow them to focus on their core work that has been needing more attention? Can we get them home earlier to see their families rather than working late to get this accomplished? Can we help them achieve their strategic financial goal and reduce stress and/or anxiety that often come with these goals? Each of these are ways that can result in better living.
Q. Can you tell us a little about the services Stave offers?
A: Our company’s focus is to reduce the cost of service contracts and bring this service to the in-house clinical engineering team. We develop transitional plans and service training to get their team involved. Most hospitals will still have some devices or modalities they choose to have serviced by an outside source. We still work to reduce the cost of these contracts, as well. We also consult to streamline contract and/or clinical engineering operations.
Q: How does your company stand out in the medical equipment field?
A: All of our work intersects at the patient. Every health care organization differs in the deployment of medical devices to deliver care to their patients. We connect with the front-line clinical staff to ensure any changes to service contracts will not adversely impact care or lead to lengthier down times. We then connect back to HTM/clinical engineering to strengthen the support structure to keep these devices in service and ready for patients.
Q: Do you have any specific goals that you want your company to achieve in the near future?
A: We want to be well established and recognized as a company dedicated to reducing health care costs and strengthening the HTM/clinical engineering field.
