With the new Hitech Act in place, "safeguard" is becoming a word used in our daily conversations. But there is a place in the hospital where resistance to looking at and recognizing this act still exists… There is a good chance that a significant amount medical equipment in your warehouse contains PHI. There is no need to spend a great deal of time researching this matter. Simply Google a piece of equipment you think contains PHI and voila your results might include…PACS systems, Image Capture Devices, EKG Machines, EMR systems… And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
You might ask, what is the problem? The problem is that most hospitals in United States contract the disposition of used medical equipment with inexperienced companies "Liquidators" selling everything they get online.
Medical facilities such as yours should impose several imperatives when disposing of equipment such as: remove all patient information from the device or hard drive, remove any site specific certifications, and control access of third parties removing the equipment from the facility.
PMC2 understands that there is more to disposing of medical equipment than simply getting the best price. PMC2 provides value added services in its brokering and disposal of medical facility equipment. If you have any concerns or questions about the manner and methods of disposing of your equipment, I will be glad to schedule a time to further detail my company's services.