The number of stories our sales representatives hear about healthcare systems who have purchased a medical cart being left to ‘sink or swim’ once the cart purchase order had been submitted is astounding. It’s not always the case, however; at JACO, we really take an interest in those who purchase our products. Unfortunately, far too many medical cart vendors don’t take a vested interest after the purchase and initial training, and the medical system is basically left to finish the rollout on their own.
Let’s Posit a Typical Scenario:
-Clinic purchases mobile medical carts
-Clinic spends a few weeks installing hardware and rolling out the systems
-At some point in the future, the clinic sends support request
-Clinic gets answer to support request several days later
Certainly supporting a new medical cart implementation is a significant challenge. Many popular cart vendors have oversold and just don’t have the trained, skilled, in-house staff that is needed to support the number of carts they’re bringing online. That’s not an excuse for the cart manufacturer, they should still be held accountable. However, it’s helpful to understand the challenges they face so you can possibly avoid them.
Not all medical cart companies have this challenge. This being the case, it highlights the need to talk to users of any cart you’re considering. Ask them about the type, speed and quality of the support they receive from the company as a current user and what support they received during the rollout. Also, try to talk to someone with a long term relationship with the EMR hardware you are implementing. The more time there is between the sale and the support request, the less likely the manufacturer is going to be to meet the needs of your organization.
At the end of the day, an EHR medical cart does require a determination to ‘sink or swim.’ However, it’s much easier to swim when you have someone throwing you a line along the way.
