For medical establishments and hospitals, maintaining the operational condition of IT equipment is a strategic issue that has direct consequences on the proper functioning of the establishment. In the medical field, IT equipment consists of:
- all workstations and mobile devices used by staff;
- servers that host applications and data in particular;
- peripherals (printers, cameras, etc.);
- the computer network, which interconnects the various devices and systems;
- the Cloud;
- medical record management and medical imaging systems;
- connected equipment (patient monitors, smart infusion pumps, etc.).
What are the benefits of regular maintenance of your IT equipment? What are the best practices to adopt to facilitate maintenance?
Maintaining your IT equipment: an absolute necessity
It is not always easy to keep your IT equipment up to standard: this long-term work requires time, energy and sometimes financial investment. Yet the result is worth it. Maintaining your IT equipment allows you to:
- Protect against cyber attacks and reduce security incidents:
Cyber-criminals exploit vulnerabilities in software, applications and operating systems to penetrate their target’s information systems and carry out their attacks. Very regularly, publishers propose new patches to fill these security gaps. Therefore, maintaining IT equipment by installing these patches and making regular updates considerably reduces exposure to cyber threats.
Further, well-maintained IT equipment (bug fixes, preventive monitoring, etc.) is less prone to technical failures, which reduces the number of accidental safety incidents. - Optimize operating costs:
By reducing the risk of outages and costly incidents, regular maintenance of IT equipment is actually a profitable investment for medical establishments. It also avoids unexpected expenses related to unresolved issues. Also, taking good care of IT equipment makes it possible to extend the lifetime of the various pieces of equipment.
- Maintaining a good level of service:
Lack of maintenance results in long-term deterioration of equipment and system performance. This slows down application operation, lengthens response times and causes frequent computer errors.
Even worse: obsolete IT equipment can lead to service interruptions: faulty hardware, software incompatibility, or breakdown without the possibility of rapid resolution (suppliers often stop support for obsolete equipment or software).
Conversely, high-performance IT equipment will be able to guarantee the performance and continuity of services under all circumstances. Maintenance of IT equipment therefore has a direct impact on staff productivity, the rate of patient care and the proper functioning of the establishment as a whole.
5 tips for maintaining your IT equipment:
Here are some good practices to apply to keep your IT equipment at its best:
1. Regularly update your provider directory in order to have a clear view of your various contacts and to be able to easily contact them for maintenance, technical support or assistance services.
2. Monitoring the needs of end users (caregivers and patients): IT equipment is only a set of tools at the service of these people, so it’s necessary to ensure that it meets their needs.
3. Anticipating the need for new equipment, to replace obsolete equipment and also to keep the establishment up to date with the latest technological developments. This involves planning staff training on new tools.
4. Use a computer equipment management tool, in order to have an overview of all equipment, monitor the condition of equipment in real time, manage licenses and easily plan updates.
5. Set up a backup system and data recovery plan, to minimize losses in the event of an incident or attack and also to ensure continuity of medical services.
While maintaining your IT equipment is a fundamental task that requires constant vigilance, it allows your establishment to secure its data and protect its ability to operate in the event of an incident. As the foundation for technical performance, it offers peace of mind to caregivers who can fully focus on patient care.
