Analyse utilisation ratio of medical equipment by July 31: AIIMS to depts

In a move aimed at better use of medical equipment, the AIIMS administration on Monday asked its various departments to analyse the utilisation ratio of all medical and diagnostic equipment in their inventory by July 31 this year.

For the equipment whose utilization ratio is less than 0.5 (i.e. 50 per cent), an action plan shall be prepared to increase the utilization to at least 0.80 (i.e. 80 per cent), according to an office memorandum issued by AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas on Monday.

The director has taken rounds of various areas within AIIMS, and observed that few medical equipment are idling / underutilised and there is potential to increase their utility by sharing them with other departments, the memorandum said.

"Accordingly, it has been decided that all departments shall analyze the utilization ratio (i.e. the ratio of equipment utilized hours and the equipment hours available) for all medical and diagnostic equipment in their inventory by 31 July, 2023," it said.

For cases, wherein the department is not able to develop a plan for effective utilization of any equipment in its inventory, it shall be reported to the office of the director for sharing / transferring the said equipment to another department where it may have better utilization.

In another office memorandum, the administration has sought minimizing local purchase of drugs and implants, stressing that efforts should be made to target "zero local purchase" for any non-emergent requirements.

In line with good governance practices, it is important to have optimal control of inventory for all types of drugs and implants required at AIIMS, New Delhi to ensure zero unplanned procurement of the same via local purchase even for emergency / EHS patients, the memorandum issued by Dr Srinivas said.

"In continuation of earlier office memorandums dated November 3, 2022 and December 15, 2022 on the issue, it is reiterated that procurement via local purchase system should only be rarely done for emergent requirements of patients/EHS. All efforts should be made to target 'zero local purchase' for any non-emergent requirements," it said.

In case of non-emergent procurement of any drugs due to expiry of rate contract, a comparison should be done by the procuring store between the price offered rate contracted vendor, LP chemist, AMRIT, Jan Aushadhi store, etc, and the procurement shall be done from the source offering the lowest price.

"To minimize local purchase, heads of departments shall on an annual basis send the list of medicines and consumables to the Medical Superintendent by 31st December which are beyond standard hospital formulary but are required for patients admitted under the care of their respective departments.

"For all such additional medicines and consumables, Hospital Store shall execute rate contracts by 31st March as is done for items in the Hospital Formulary or procure them via AMRIT / Jan Aushadhi store," the memorandum said.

Further, it shall be ensured that AMRIT stores at AIIMS New Delhi keep stock of all required medicines, stents and implants and the same is available to patients on 24x7 basis, it said.