What to do when your patient handling equipment becomes discontinued or obsolete

Published On: 9th August 2021

10 Minute Read

Asset Management | Costs | Healthcare Equipment | Lifecycle Replacement | Patient Handling Equipment | Troubleshooting

Manufacturers are continuously working hard to innovate new and improve existing products. This means there will come a time when they announce that legacy equipment has come to the end of its expected service life. When this happens, manufacturers enter the equipment into a 2-step ‘end of life’ programme of discontinuation and obsolescence.

The difference between discontinued and obsolete patient handling equipment

discontinued-to-obsoleteThe first step is ‘discontinued’. This is where the manufacturer ceases (or discontinues) to manufacturer a specific product. The equipment can still be sold, rented, serviced, and maintained, repaired, and supported if spare parts and service kits are available. The manufacturer will usually hold spare parts for around 5 -10 years for discontinued patient handling equipment.

The next step is ‘obsolescence’. Over the discontinuation phase, manufacturers will move the equipment to a status of obsolete. This means there are no more spare parts available and so from the manufacturer’s standpoint, can’t be serviced, maintained, or repaired. This is when they advise the equipment is replaced.

What does this mean for your business… and your budget?

Safety and Risks:

To ensure your equipment’s safe and optimised performance, you need to upgrade your equipment before it reaches obsolescence.

If your equipment is serviced by the manufacturers, you need to be careful if you decide to continue to use the product. Manufacturers will often state they are unable to accept liability for events or incidents involving obsolete equipment that is still in clinical use. However, they are not authorised to condemn or remove obsolete equipment, so a careful and thorough risk assessment must be completed.

With Medaco as your service provider, we may be able to help prolong the life of your equipment through our preventative maintenance programmes. We keep a range of spare parts in our large warehouse to ensure we can continue to service and maintain patient handling equipment for as long as is reasonably possible.

Reputation

The reputation of your care facility is paramount to your business running successfully. Having old and outdated equipment not only puts your users and staff at risk of an incident, which will damage your reputation. But having the latest high-quality and clean equipment can help to attract private residents and increase your occupancy levels.

Costs

All equipment deteriorates over time, to avoid costly breakdowns, you need to replace this equipment before the risk of failure becomes unacceptably high. However, knowing when to upgrade or replace your equipment can be difficult. It should be a well thought out decision made by your facility and ideally not forced upon you by the OEM. However, not every care facility has the benefit of Medaco’s asset management solution.

Costs associated with discontinued and obsolete equipment can skyrocket the older the equipment gets. It can be hard for maintenance or facilities teams to have full visibility over how much is being spent on reactive call outs and spare parts.

What are your alternatives to obsolete patient handling equipment?

Through Medaco’s asset management solution, we can help identify any equipment which is discontinued or obsolete. By working closely with leading manufacturers, we can also replace them with the updated version. The benefit of using Medaco for your lifecycle replacement programme is that we work with a range of manufacturers, so can help advise on alternative products that still have everything you require in terms of features and functions. As well as offer other benefits regarding costs, warranties, or training.

The list of discontinued and obsolete equipment is extensive, so we have provided an example list below to show the alternatives on the market.

Equipment Status Alternative Product
Arjo Maxi-Move (MKI and MKII) Obsolete Oxford Presence
Arjo Sara Stedy Obsolete Oxford Up
Invacare Reliant 350 Stand Assist Lifter Discontinued Molift Quick Raiser 1 or Oxford Journey or ISA Stand Assist Lifter
Guldmann GH2 Obsolete Liko 242 or Molift Air
Arjo Malibu/Sovereign I and II Obsolete AB Compact or Reval Caprice
Arjo parker bath (400,409,410, 419, 420) Obsolete AB Motion or Reval Transcare
Arjo Rhapsody (Rh93 & RH95) Obsolete Cocoon Keyhole or Ergo

How easy is it to replace your patient handling equipment?

It couldn’t be easier! Medaco does all the hard work for you, including the removal and disposal of your old equipment.

Not sure which alternative product will suit your care environment? Medaco can offer free product demonstrations either at your site, in our showroom or virtually.

Training can be provided as part of the delivery and installation if the equipment is new to your staff. This will help with any user adjustments and mitigate any concerns with using new equipment.

We understand that budgets are tight, especially now, so Medaco can offer flexible payment options depending on your budgets and circumstance including:

What can I do to avoid this happening in the future?

Knowing what equipment, you have on-site and what condition it is in can help you have full visibility over your assets and allow you to forward plan.

If you’re too busy running your facility to manage your assets, consider using Medaco’s asset management solution for regular audit and condition reporting. You’ll benefit from predictable forecasting and budgeting for lifecycle replacement, so you won’t be hit with unexpected costs.

Medaco is committed to providing enhanced well-being and safe solutions for our customers and their clients through maintenance programmes and quality products. For more information or assistance in setting up and managing your lifecycle replacement programme, contact Medaco today.