Equipment breakdown and maintenance

Scan a device, report it down, repair it with parts and downtime, get approval and return it to service; plus PM and meters.

Biomedical engineerStaff nurseHousekeeping / facility staffLab technicianAdministrator

This workflow covers a medical device from the moment someone at the bedside finds it faulty until it's back in service. It also covers the planned side: preventive maintenance (PM) and meter readings.

Who does what

1. Scan the device

Every registered device has a QR label with its tag (for example AST-0005). Tap Scan and point the camera at the label. If the camera isn't available, type the tag and tap Open. The equipment page opens, showing its status (Active, Down or Retired), its location, Open work orders, Total downtime and Maintenance cost.

2. Report the problem

1. On the equipment page, tap Report problem / new work order. The asset is already selected. (You can also go to Orders → + New and pick the Asset.)
2. Enter a Title and describe the problem under What's wrong / what needs doing?.
3. Type: Corrective for a breakdown. Set the Priority (Low, Medium, High or Critical) and the Due date.
4. Assign to the biomedical engineer, or leave it Unassigned for a manager to triage.
5. Tick Asset is down / out of service if the device must not be used.
6. Tap Create work order. You'll get a number such as WO-0007, and the assignee is notified.

A work order can also come from automation, when a rule fires on a failed equipment checklist (wf-failed-item-to-action), or from a PM schedule (see below).

3. The asset is down

When Asset is down / out of service is ticked, the device's status changes to Down. It then appears:

• as Down on Equipment (filter by status), and in the badge on the Equipment tile on Home;
• as "asset down" in red on the work order;
• in the Down now count on Orders (managers).

Clinical staff who scan it can see straight away that it's out of service.

4. The biomedical engineer works the order

On the work order (see role-biomedical-engineer for the details):

1. Status → In progress, then Save. The start time is recorded.
2. Parts & cost: pick a stocked part and quantity, then Add part. Stock is taken off automatically, and the app stops you if there isn't enough. Use Custom / not in stock… for a part bought outside the store. Removing a line puts the stock back.
3. Comments for progress, vendor calls and questions. On hold while waiting for parts.
4. To finish: Status → Completed, Work done (required to complete), Labor (min) and Downtime (min), then Save.

The cost panel shows Parts, Labor (minutes × the company Labor rate (per hour)) and Total.

5. Completion and the approval threshold

Managers set two rules under Settings: Require approval at cost ≥ (blank means never) and Always require approval for critical work orders.

• If a staff member completes an order whose total reaches the limit, or a critical order when that box is ticked, the order becomes Awaiting approval. They see Submitted for manager approval., and managers get an "Approval needed" notice.
• A manager opens Approvals and taps Approve & close, or Send back with a required note. A sent-back order returns to In progress, and the note is added as a comment. Either way, the assignee is notified.
• Orders completed by a manager don't need approval.

See wf-approvals.

6. Back to active

When the order is completed (or approved), CareList sets the device back to Active, unless another open work order still has it marked down. If a completed order is reopened, the device goes back to Down. Labour and downtime add to the device's history and to the Repair time (MTTR) and Downtime figures on Orders.

Preventive maintenance

Under More → Maintenance schedules, a user with equipment.manage adds a schedule per device:

• Time-based: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly, from a First due date.
• Meter-based: Every (meter units), for example every 250 hours.
• Lead days creates the work order early. The schedule also has a priority and an assignee.

Every hour, the maintenance:generate job creates a Preventive work order for each schedule that is due, and notifies the assignee. Generate due work orders now runs it on demand. Pause a schedule while a device is away. The engineer works PM orders like repairs, and usually also runs Biomedical Equipment Preventive Maintenance with Start inspection on the equipment page. That records the electrical safety, performance, alarm and calibration checks as a signed report.

Meter readings

If the device has a Meter unit, its page shows a Meter box. Anyone can enter a New reading and tap Log reading. Readings can't go backwards. If a meter-based schedule is now due, its work order is created at once, and the message says how many were created.

Related: Equipment, Work orders, Preventive maintenance, Consumables and spares.