Right to Repair

I have been fortunate enough to be in a state that is on the other side of the Covid-19 peak.  Since the start of the pandemic and the necessary equipment build up at hospitals, I have noticed some of the leaders in the HTM community weigh in on the importance of the right to repair movement.  I won’t go into details as it is highly probable that if you are reading this blog, you have a good understanding of the right to repair movement as it pertains to medical equipment.  Instead, I wanted to jot down a few things down on why I think it is vital and I wanted to address the arguments put forth by the manufacturers and their lobbyist.

• The equipment demand needed by the hospitals could not have been met by the manufacturers.  Approximately 2 months ago, my hospital received 5 new ventilators that were ordered for the expected surge of Covid 19 patients.  We are still awaiting 10 additional units that were ordered at the same time.
• The cost of ordering new equipment for physiological monitoring would have been exceptionally higher than we could have afforded.  The cost of a patient monitor and the MMS module would have been around $13K ea.  My hospital rented 35 monitors for a short period of time to meet our needs thereby saving our hospital system significantly. 
• There are many OEMs that limited the service they offered during this time.  Many suspended all preventative maintenance and would only respond onsite for emergent situations. 
• The qualifications to become an OEM field service engineer are remarkable similar for a mid-level inhouse HTM front line contributor.  That tells me that our inhouse HTM staff are more than capable to maintain their equipment with proper training and tools.
• In house HTM programs have opportunity to improve and their documentation.  A comprehensive quality assurance program would measure and show the quality of the work performed and relieve any doubt that our programs increases risk to the patients.

I encourage everyone in our community to read the articles concerning right to repair, join concerted lobbying movements, and contact their state representatives.