Care to Guess Where the Highest Risk PHI is in Your Hospital?

In fact, during our 10 years of helping leading hospitals increase the return on investment on their medical equipment lifecycle, Miga has learned that the most common at-risk Personal Health Information (PHI) is in an area you’d least expect…your medical equipment. How carefully does your hospital inspect and scrub unused, traded-in or otherwise disposed-of equipment of PHI information?

Here are a few best practice checklist items you may wish to discuss with your staff when implementing a PHI risk mitigation strategy around medical equipment:

1. Inspect Your Equipment Before It Leaves the Building – How strong are your internal procedures to ensure that PHI is removed? Your hospital is required to make sure that no equipment for trade or sale leaves your facility with PHI on it. Create a simple check box on an asset form or other document that ensures a department staff member or clinical engineer checks equipment for PHI before it leaves the facility.

2. Have Your OEM’s Perform a Final PM and Data Scrub – The best way to ensure PHI is removed is to make sure it is completed according to manufacturer specifications. If your equipment is still under a service contract, OEM’s will be able to do a final PM or service call that includes PHI removal.

3. Build in Purchase Language That Requires New Hard Drives at End of Life – In some cases, PHI cannot be properly removed unless the hard drive is removed. As you might expect, if the hard drive is removed, the system value could drop significantly. Before you purchase a new piece of equipment, ask your OEM rep if they can add a provision that mandates them to install a new hard drive and software at the time of replacement. Not only will it protect PHI, but it will also save your hospital a lot of money in lost recovery value.

Know the right price.

And get it.

Having the right information saves hospitals time and money on medical equipment lifecycle costs.

Matt Werder

Chief Technology Officer

Hennepin County Medical Center

“Miga’s data is key to helping us be good financial stewards and validates we are using our resources wisely. The market intelligence provided by Miga’s EVMS platform has allowed us to save substantial amounts of money.”

Matt Blashill

Enterprise Director of Supply Chain

Lake Region Healthcare

"There’s a personal touch that sets Miga apart from their competitors. They don’t just offer great insights. They always take the time to provide additional analysis that is meaningful and actionable."

Dan Bazinet

Director of Clinical Engineering

Southcoast Health

“In all my years in health care, I’ve used a lot of benchmarking tools. Most simply repeat information passed along from others; Miga’s information tells me what’s really happening.”

COO

Community Hospital

"Miga's negotiating skills save us time and money. And their unique understanding of the market means we’re always playing from a position of strength."

Supply Chain Director

Regional Healthcare System

“All suppliers claim to have excellent customer service. Miga actually walks the talk and always has our best interest at heart. We love working with them."

Dr. John Wilson

Physician

Mayo Clinic, Department of Medicine

Program in Underserved Global Health

"Miga’s ability to match equipment donated by their customers with the needs of our medical projects has been a most valuable and welcomed resource."

Jim Tierney

CEO

Suburban Radiology

“Miga’s data, analysis and expertise – in particular related to the fair market value of clinical equipment – is a critical resource we need to support strategic acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures.”

Eric Hoag

Director, Corporate Strategy & Development

Allina Hospitals and Clinics

“Miga’s proprietary data and expertise was critical to our ability to close an acquisition deal quickly and with a high level of confidence in our valuation.”

Bill Barta

Corporate Director, System Imaging

Fairview Health Systems

“Miga’s objective information-based approach and understanding of the needs of hospitals makes them a valuable resource and helps us make the most cost effective spending decisions.”

Scott Bosch

Manager of Clinical Engineering

Park Nicollet Health Services

“The groups responsible for managing technology in our healthcare organization need data and analysis to manage costs and make informed decisions. Miga’s EVMS platform is an important and valuable resource that helps us make the right decisions for both our clinical priorities and budget.”

Miga Solutions is an information services company, helping leading hospitals reduce medical equipment and IT costs since 2004. Our EVMS Benchmarking 2.0® platform enables hospitals to benchmark using better data, find more savings, and make better spending decisions across the medical equipment lifecycle. Coupled with unparalleled marketplace expertise, our solutions bring our clients to the lowest possible total cost of ownership.

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