The ROI of Clinical Device Efficiency in Healthcare

Calculating the business value of a technology investment doesn’t have to be a "fuzzy" exercise. If you have directional alignment between stakeholders on estimation procedures and accuracy levels, calculating cost and value is very much the same process. When it’s done well, not only can you build a solid business case supporting contemplated investments, but you’ll know exactly how to measure and report Return on Investment (ROI) progress. 

Intuitively, the more severe the problem you’re fixing is, the greater the ROI. When considering how manual and outdated so many internet of medical things (IoMT) technology management workflows are, the value of automation is hard to overstate. The opportunities to improve productivity are easy to spot, and the associated labor savings are easy to evaluate. Importantly, the benefits accrue naturally. For example, a maintenance professional does not require training “to stop searching” for infusion pumps that require a battery change. If they are presented with the location and battery levels of infusion pumps requiring maintenance, they know exactly what to do. 

Here’s a system example: Most computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and configuration management databases (CMDB) are “disconnected” from the connected devices they are designed to manage. Yes, while some data are captured from managed devices, what about all of the unmanaged clinical devices in healthcare? What if your coverage was complete, the asset fingerprints were data-rich, continuously updated and synchronized across all IT and clinical systems that hold inventories? 

Breaking Down the Costs 

According to research, 40% of a biomedical professional’s time is mired in relatively low-value tasks. At Claroty, we have deconstructed typical technology management workflows and pulled-out the manual elements that can be largely eliminated. We’ve done it by job-class so that time/value can be easily calculated. The model we have developed also allows the client to specify a “ramp time” to these same benefits. Of course, all inputs to the model are editable, but we’ve seen consistencies and provide default values based on the averages.

Additional direct and indirect costs to consider 

These time sinks are just one negative byproduct of a disconnected CMMS. Consider the impacts on staff morale and asset utilization, and additionally, the opportunity costs associated with not having already limited staff dedicated to more meaningful work.

Studies have shown that the average utilization of clinical devices in healthcare hovers around 42%. Despite this, most health systems continue to overspend on equipment. In fact, the averages indicate that health systems may overspend by as much as 25%. The ripple effects of poor visibility, slow restaging, and other related workflow inefficiencies are all negative. And the financial ramifications are costly and will increase based on the uptick in device spending that is now occurring (CAGR 20% +). 

ROI analysis

Medigate’s Clinical Device Efficiency (CDE) module provides a solution. As the newest member of our suite, it provides the long-missing data via a dynamic, live connection to your connected clinical devices in the healthcare environment. Furthermore, the integration makes it instantly available to the right people, processes, and other benefitting technologies on a continuously updated basis. The data includes asset identification (managed and unmanaged), location and utilization metrics, so the workflows crossing HIT and HTM all benefit. 

For example, with the inclusion of location and utilization metrics, CDE makes savings-based recommendations by identifying: lost devices, retired devices, underutilized rented devices, overutilized devices, devices that have been offline for extended periods, and devices that are past due on their preventative maintenance. The opportunities to improve are presented clearly and the associated gains can be accurately estimated and measured as they are realized. 

CDE transforms your CMMS/CMDB into a dynamic, data-rich system of record. The following savings summary reflects both an investment payback period and the total estimated ROI for the 3-year analysis period selected in this case.

How to Decrease Costs with the Medigate Platform

In addition to the above, the Medigate platform can decrease costs for healthcare environments through automation and added efficiency to current workflows with added device context. This dedicated healthcare cyber-physical systems (CPS) protection platform helps organizations to address the following use cases:  

1. Vulnerability research and correlation:

Medigate correlates network devices with vulnerability databases in order to create a risk profile unique to the HDO environment, automatically providing answers to questions that can take hours to resolve manually.

2. Improve device management efficiency: 

By automating the maintenance and management of devices while adding valuable insights from existing inventory records, such as the CMMS, time-consuming tasks can be eliminated while reducing inaccuracies from manual data collection. 

3. Right-size maintenance level agreements:

With visibility into severity of security risk and lifecycle status of each medical device, future procurement decisions can be made to get the most out of existing or future devices while ensuring secure operations. 

How to Increase Revenue with the Medigate Platform

In addition to decreasing costs, the Medigate platform is also uniquely suited to help HDOs optimize clinical workflows to add business value and enhance revenue. Medigate tackles this challenge for clinical devices in healthcare by:

1. Increasing technician throughput:

When it comes to imaging devices, time is money. The Medigate platform tracks device utilization, enabling valuable insights for device usage such as load balancing procedures to improve patient care delivery while optimizing financial reward. 

2. Optimizing capital expenditures:

Monitor and act on device usage, such as examination trends, operator efficiency, and uptime to drive better procurement and fleet optimization decisions. 

3. Making Data-Driven Inventory Decisions:

Optimize inventory based on a clear view of each device’s operational status and utilization for smarter decisions on when to replace, upgrade, dispose, and reallocate assets.

The healthcare cybersecurity industry is rapidly evolving with digital transformation. Enhanced productivity due to increased device connectivity is resulting in evolving structure and enhancements in both clinical and non-clinical workflows. With these added benefits, comes inevitable risks and potential opportunities. That’s why Medigate was purpose-built with clinical context to enable healthcare organizations to safely deliver efficient connected care. From the foundation of industry leading visibility and insight, advanced features allow for the mitigation of cyber risk, an increase in compliance, and better operational performance — allowing all clinical devices in healthcare environments to operate safely and efficiently, while decreasing costs and increasing revenue.