When choosing a doctor and a medical clinic, a person should make sure the clinic can provide basic health care and diagnostic services. When we are ill, we want our doctor to make us well again. To do that, medical clinics must be well-equipped. But, what equipment is needed to be able to handle all the medical problems patients may have?
Which 5 Things Should Your Doctor’s Practice Have?
Limiting the list of valuable medical supplies needed by a doctor’s practice to 5 things is not realistic because doctor’s clinics need hundreds of supplies. But listing the 5 most important things is important. If the clinic does not have these important pieces of equipment or supplies, do they have others that are also important to running an effective medical practice?
1. Rolling medical Carts are very important because they get the supplies where they are needed quickly. One important type of rolling medical cart holds computer workstations for clinical documentation, monitoring, and sharing medical history. They allow medical professionals to interview patients and input their information immediately.
2. Asthma attacks are a common emergency in medical clinics so they should be prepared to treat them with bronchial dilators like Albuterol inhalers. It is important to quickly open the patient’s airway. Patients can experience seizures in the clinic and there should be help available immediately in the form of benzodiazepine intervention or high-flow oxygen to help a patient recover quickly.
3. Patients may experience an allergic reaction to a shot or other medication. The clinic should have Epinephrine auto-injectors on hand to treat anaphylactic shock.
4. Emergency medical kits should be found in every doctor’s clinic. The clinic should determine what medical emergencies they see the most of and have medications and supplies to handle those emergencies. A very important part of this kit should be an Automated External Defibrillator to respond to cardiac arrest in patients.
5. The clinic should have adequate supplies for patient diagnosis and treatment as well as treatment of injuries, and other medical emergencies.
More Medical Equipment Needs
There are long lists available for doctors to refer to when deciding what medical supplies to keep on hand at the clinic. The list is long but some of the more important items include autoclaves, basic diagnostic equipment such as blood pressure monitors, thermometers, EKG units and accessories. There must be exam tables, laboratory diagnostic equipment, stethoscopes, and more. It may be new or used lab equipment. You may also partner with a laboratory kitting services provider and a supplier of lab supplies.
There should be plenty of protective equipment such as gloves and facemasks, body weight scales, sharps containers, and a lot of specialized equipment such as spirometers, fetal monitoring equipment, and equipment to give shots.
In short, A doctor’s practice should have all the latest equipment to perform all the patient care services they are offering including diagnosis of health problems, emergency care, testing patients blood pressure, checking lungs, prenatal care, infant care, elderly care, obesity care, allergy treatment, and any of the health problems the clinic anticipates treating.
Small Things Matter
Some small things such as band aides, tongue depressors, ace bandages, and those paper patient exam gowns become important to the daily operation of a clinic. Computer workstations to record patient information, test results, and planned treatment are a very important part of any modern clinic. When you have your first appointment at a doctor’s practice, look around you and note how well organized and equipped the reception area and exam rooms appear to be.
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