The roots of McAlester Regional Medical Center in Oklahoma were established more than a hundred years ago. Since those early days, the facility has integrated with several medical centers to develop a top-tier hospital environment that continues to experience growth as a comprehensive framework for health care excellence.
A significant aspect of this framework is consistent attention to emerging technologies that enable the hospital to meet and exceed national health care standards. This includes providing state-of-the- art equipment that is reliably available and maintained to the highest standards.
The most vital equipment at McAlester Regional Health Center exceeded downtime goals as a direct result of improper preventative maintenance and faltering communication with the existing third- party equipment support provider. This contributed to overspending on repairs and new equipment purchases while negatively affecting revenue.
As a premier facility, equipment uptime is imperative, as-is consistent communication and reliable preventative maintenance technicians. Battling an average downtime of 3 to 4 percent, McAlester Regional Health Center was eagerly searching for an equipment provider that could meet their uptime and budgetary needs.
McAlester Regional Health Center contacted Arch Medical but was unsure about trusting another third-party provider after previous negative experiences.
As a new provider to McAlester Health Care Center, Arch Medical began the partnership by completing a full assessment of the Health Center’s equipment maintenance needs. This resulted in a six-month contract to service a handful of equipment.
After witnessing firsthand the integrity and quality of Arch Medical’s equipment service and support, the Health Center signed a 12-month agreement to allow Arch Medical to provide maintenance and service to all large-scale medical imaging equipment in the facility. McAlester Health Center gains a fixed support cost for all covered equipment through this agreement, regardless of performance. Arch Medical absorbs any repair or maintenance costs that exceed the monthly contracted fee.
To ensure the highest levels of support, Arch Medical installed a full-time onsite engineer at the facility. Instead of a long process of scheduling a diagnosis, ordering parts, and then planning the installation, the Arch Medical engineer is always available to react to equipment malfunctions in real-time and cut repair times in half. Arch Medical’s excellent network of trusted part suppliers is built on long-standing relationships to ensure that part acquisition is fast and seamless, even on weekends and holidays.
However, the most significant difference has been in the consistent completion of high-quality preventive maintenance across all hospital equipment – every brand and every modality. Arch Medical operates with the highest level of integrity – this means that all preventive maintenance, whether visible or not, is completed on schedule and at or above OEM standards.
As a result of contracting with Arch Medical, equipment downtime at McAlester Health Center is down from 4 percent to 1 percent. Since inoperable equipment directly impacts the Health Center’s bottom line, this improvement has contributed to increased revenue. Additionally, the time between the reported failure and equipment restoration has decreased by 75 percent, and the total cost of equipment support has been reduced by 20 percent.
As further proof of satisfaction, McAlester Health Care Center entered into a three-year equipment service and support agreement with Arch Medical. This display of trust is especially significant since it is the first time the Health Center has entered into a contract that exceeds 12-months.
Consistent communication, high-quality repair and preventative maintenance, and unwavering integrity are the foundation of Arch Medical’s successful, ongoing partnership with McAlester Health Care Center.