CMMS Software for Healthcare: Where to Start  

Have you ever considered how healthcare facilities keep all the moving parts running smoothly? Chances are they use a CMMS or Computerized Maintenance Management System. With this software, every department can plan, track, and manage key data in one centralized database on or off-site. These facilities use it to streamline the management of maintenance tasks, processes, stay on top of multisite operations, compliance, and other integrations, making it easier for managers and healthcare team members to maintain certain standards, keep accurate records, and track valuable assets. 

In modern healthcare, this technology is beneficial because it helps with complex health systems, patient needs, and an uninterrupted workflow. Information is captured and recorded for accurate reporting, maintenance tracking, asset tracking for patient care, security of equipment and machines, and auditing. Having an efficient and effective way to maintain assets, equipment, and regulatory procedures is key. 

What is CMMS Software for Healthcare? 

CMMS software for healthcare is a customizable platform that helps healthcare maintenance managers with the management of inventory, maintenance, vendors, work orders, and anything related to efficient facility management. 

A healthcare CMMS helps increase efficiency through the improvement of team management, centralization, and automation of equipment processes and service requests, eliminating delays through careful management of inventory, providing insights for informed decision-making, planning for future expenditures, and building secure integrations. 

With a CMMS, a structured framework can be created to keep up with all the assets of the healthcare facility, generate and assign work orders, track its progress, add documentation, manage suppliers, maintain costs and expenses, and be more informed. Here are just a few examples of how this can work for a healthcare system: 

• Assess and control building systems (air conditioning, heating, ventilation, etc.) 
• Automatically create visitor logs for security and send out periodic notices when maintenance is scheduled Keep track of cleaning supplies and schedules 

Why is CMMS Important to Healthcare? 

Healthcare systems have numerous risks and challenges, including cybersecurity, mobility implications, workflow processes, reporting, policies, regulations, and supply chain concerns. CMMS is vital to helping effectively manage medical equipment, other assets, medical devices, and maintenance operations and procedures. 

Being able to simplify processes, track and record inventory, and maintain high standards of compliance helps in forecasting without the problems of human error. This makes it easier to retrieve records in the event of an audit and transfer knowledge from one department or person to another. 

The data generated from the CMMS helps see usage and the needs of the facility at a high level. Maintenance categories can be created based on internal trends to fully develop and utilize processes that are beneficial, productive, and effective. This helps save time and money. 

Considerations for Evaluating Healthcare CMMS

There are several considerations when evaluating a healthcare CMMS that can seamlessly integrate into a facility: 

Your Organization’s Needs 

Every healthcare facility has its own set of unique and specific needs. This could be from having specialized machines to having different sets of vendors that must be tracked. With a variety of CMMS solutions available, the needs, challenges, and regulatory policies that directly affect the organization are important. This means the system must address all the areas that increase efficiency, productivity, management, and safety within the organization with no downtime. How aligned are they with your mandatory compliance rules, and can they adapt when needed? How flexible are they in creating a solution designed just for your facility? 

Price 

Price is always a factor when upgrading systems. Expenses for healthcare facilities can be extremely high due to sensitive equipment, patient care systems, and other types of regulatory accommodations that aren’t the norm for other facilities. It’s important to assess whether the current price is within the budget, and if the software can grow with the healthcare facility at a comfortable price point. Additionally, if there are plans for expansion, the system must be able to accommodate additional licenses and hardware. 

Customer Support 

It’s important for the vendor of the healthcare CMMS to have a robust technical support team to ensure operations are consistently running without delays or limitations. Find out the types of support offered, their availability, response times, and if there are any additional fees required. 

Innovation 

How innovative is the healthcare CMMS vendor? Will the solution scale and grow as they introduce new technology? How often do they improve their software? The digital space is continuously evolving, so their development initiatives and roadmap are crucial to determining if they can meet your current and future needs. 

Training Support 

What types of training does the vendor offer? Ensuring your employees are properly trained on the software is crucial to a successful transition and ongoing implementation. With regulations in the healthcare industry so strict, having the right support for your individual operation is needed. Check to see if there is any written documentation or videos available to further assist in training initiatives. 

Deployment Options 

Being able to deploy the software in multiple scenarios is important, as well as who will have access to those deployment options. Do their options align with your current and future vision, and how do these options fit into your risk management guidelines? 

Choosing a CMMS for Your Healthcare Facility 

It’s not easy finding the right CMMS solution to meet all your needs. Thorough research and partnering with a healthcare facilities management expert can help in determining where you are, what you need, and the best solutions for solving the problem. Listing the wants and needs of the healthcare facility, where things are falling through the cracks, and the best solutions to current problems is the first step in determining the type of CMMS that can support your facility. 

ServiceChannel specializes in assisting organizations that realize the challenges they face while providing the best CMMS solutions they can implement and scale now and in the future. Are you ready to explore a CMMS solution for your healthcare facility? Explore the ServiceChannel platform and learn how we can support your facility today.