Hospitals have different types of equipment to cater to the diverse needs of patients. In each department, they own a specific kind of equipment that suits their speciality. Although each equipment has different functions, it must go through calibration. So, why is it essential for the hospital management to ensure they are well calibrated?
Why is calibration important?
The patient’s health and safety are the priority in hospitals and clinics. Physicians and nurses depend on the accuracy of the equipment they use to diagnose the ailment and treat their patients. It means that accuracy and precision are crucial. They need to do medical equipment calibration to ensure they don’t compromise the safety and the health of patients.
When the hospitals are buying the equipment, they come calibrated. But the more it’s used, it’s prone to wear and tear. With time, it will lose its edge with usage. So, when a piece of sensitive equipment is not aligned, it will offer inaccurate readings. It can cause many issues as it can give a wrong diagnosis risking the patient’s health.
Therefore, how can the hospital management and operators ensure equipment calibration to ensure quality services?
How to Ensure You Perform Calibration on Equipment?
You might think equipment calibration takes time and money, but that is not the case. All you need is consistency. So, when should hospital equipment go for calibration accuracy checking?
- If the manufacturer recommends
- After an accident such as dropping, damage or jostled
- Before or after critical measuring projects. It’s mostly applicable to laboratory equipment
- At your calibration intervals, for instance, do it once a month or twice a year.
What you need to do first is set your medical equipment calibration schedule. It can be based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, needs or both. In addition, you need to be ready for emergency calibration in case of an accident affecting two or more devices.
Dropping or bumping a piece of equipment hard can cause issues that can trigger recalibration. The calibration needs to be done by a NABL calibration certified technician.
Ways to do Equipment Calibration:
There are two options when choosing to recalibrate your equipment. You can do it in-house or through third-party calibration.
Inhouse
It’s where you always have a person to recalibrate your equipment. It’s easier to calibrate as you don’t have to book an appointment for an outsider. The disadvantage is either you have a specialized technician on call or someone who knows how to handle it but might not do it exclusively.
Third-party
Third-party calibration can help you save money. Your staff can provide precise data and care for the patients. However, sometimes you might have to wait for a long time if the company has a tight schedule. But you get the best services from certified NABL calibration technicians providing efficiency.
General equipment calibration is vital in any sector. In the health sector, it helps give correct diagnoses making treatment faster. As facility owners, you need to have your equipment calibrated when it needs to for efficiency.
