Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Factors That Influence the Service and Maintenance of Radiation Equipment

There are several considerations to take into account when you’re servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment. Linear accelerators and radiation equipment are critical and essential in any radiation oncology department but they are also quite expensive and complicated.
One of the biggest decisions to take into account is whether to rely on the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or to work with a servicing company whose main focus is servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment.

While it may seem at first that the best cause of action would be to go with the OEM, there are several factors to consider alternative options such as:

Cost

Cost is a major factor to take into account and due to the complexity of servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment; OEMs typically tend to charge a higher premium for service and maintenance.
Servicing companies on the other hand are able to offer a bundle of plans for you to choose from which can help to reduce costs, mitigate risk, or eliminate risk and protect your practice from unforeseen costs.

Focus of Service

The main business of OEMs is the manufacture and sale of equipment and equipment parts thus service and maintenance may not be the core of their business. With a servicing company whose main focus is servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment, this facilitates greater efficiency and improved uptime.

Response time

The importance of medical equipment which underlies any medical facility is the optimal functioning of the equipment. Unforeseen machine breakdown can paralyze the operations of a practice. The speed at which medical equipment is returned to normal operating capacity is therefore critical.
For servicing companies, response times to servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment is typically higher than OEMs since their services are structured to be available 24/7 with quick turnaround time for onsite responses.

Larger scope of operation

Most servicing companies have employed specialists and experts of different types of devices and brands so as to ensure effective servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment. The service engineers are typically trained directly by the OEM manufacturers.
In addition, for practices that use different brands of oncology equipment, a servicing company is able to take care of the different requirements and specifications involved with servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment in-house without involving different OEMS.
Flexible service contracts
Servicing companies are able to offer flexible service contracts which ensure comprehensive service for your oncology devices while controlling the service costs. Servicing companies are responsible for maintaining optimal uptime of the devices, carrying out scheduled maintenance and emergency repair service during the contract period.

The benefits of these flexible service contracts for servicing linear accelerators and maintaining radiation equipment include no charges for parts, effective cost control, scheduled preventive maintenance, no travel or call out charges, access to 24/7 support and optimal uptime guarantee for qualified devices. These flexible service contracts are therefore customized to meet the unique specifications and financial needs of your practice.

Learn more about Radparts and the variety of services and parts they offer to repair medical equipment including: linear accelerators parts, CT scanners parts, linac parts, and radiation oncology equipment at www.radparts.com.  To contact one of our medical equipment repair specialists for parts or service call toll free 877.704.3838 for 24/7/365 support.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Tips When Purchasing Linear Accelerator Parts

There are several considerations to take into account when you are purchasing parts for radiation equipment including linear accelerators.  Radiation equipment is critical and essential in running an oncology department and it is also quite costly and complicated.
One of the major decisions that you will need to make is whether to buy new or refurbished parts to repair and maintain your radiation department’s equipment.  Refurbished linear accelerator parts are suited for both repairs and maintenance.  The costs of replacement parts for radiation equipment are lower when purchasing refurbished parts.  Refurbished equipment is ideal for medical companies that are starting out, purchasing additional pieces, research companies, veterinarians, and industrial purposes.

Advantages of Refurbished

Some of the reasons for buying refurbished linear accelerators and refurbished parts for radiation equipment include:
  • To Grow a Practice: Refurbished linear accelerator and refurbished parts free up resources and minimize costs as you upgrade your practice whether that involves opening a new center, a new treatment room, or spare equipment to have on hand.
  • Manage Expenses: Refurbished linear accelerators and refurbished parts help manage the risk of investing in costly new equipment during turbulent periods and help you stay afloat in times of financial constraints.
  • Flexibility: Refurbished linear accelerators and refurbished parts provide you the flexibility of having a backup system that you can fall back on when your existing system develops a problem.

What To Think about when Purchasing

There are many factors to consider when buying radiation equipment and parts for linear accelerators, CT scanners and other oncology equipment.
  1. Proper Planning - There are several factors that go into the planning aspect as you make your buying decision. You need to identify and understand what your clinical goals are and what type of technology you will require delivering quality service. Factors to consider include whether you plan on going fully digital to the type of defined treatment field you want to achieve.
Site planning requirements is another factor to consider because installation of linear accelerator parts for radiation equipment requires important considerations such as room dimensions, power, local permits, water supply and future equipment technology.
The timeline for completing your project is critical for planning and executing milestones such as installation dates, equipment acceptance testing dates and going live with the linear accelerator parts. It is important to factor in some level of flexibility in your project timeline so as to account for unforeseen developments and challenges.

Your budget will determine the technology, manufacturer, and age of your equipment acquisition. A limited budget can influence you to go for refurbished linear accelerator parts for your radiation equipment. This also ensures available resources to effectively carry out other essential operations of your practice.
  1. An Experienced Team - The successful implementation of linear accelerator parts requires good cohesion with various experts ranging from the equipment provider to the physics support team to the IT integration team to the clinical implementation team.

Have A Professional Do Install

It is important to ensure that the experts who are handling this implementation are specialists in their own field and have the requisite experience and expertise to execute. Perform due diligence background on the equipment provider for your linear accelerator parts for the radiation equipment to ensure maximum reliability and vendor accountability. Invest in an equipment provider that not only sells you the equipment but also provides post-installation support.

Learn more about Radparts and the variety of services and parts they offer to repair medical equipment including: linear accelerators parts, CT scanners parts, linac parts, and radiation oncology equipment at www.radparts.com.  To contact one of our medical equipment repair specialists for parts or service call toll free 877.704.3838 for 24/7/365 support.