You’ve decided to set up shop in the healthcare sector. You could be a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant looking to go solo, a very rare breed today. Or you want to run an urgent care clinic for those who don’t have a regular primary provider. Or maybe you’re opening up a medspa, where clients relax while their bodies are non-surgically slimmed and trimmed by the latest in aesthetic medical devices. Whatever drives you, you should also give serious thought in equipping your workplace with medical computers like the ones found here.
Medical Grade
The healthcare sector, as you quickly became aware, is not a typical business. (Look at the paperwork alone.) There’s a lot of government regulation, much of it focused on protecting the patient’s well-being.
Equipping your office with medical computers can help tremendously in meeting those regs which will bring you peace of mind. Manufacturers of off-the-shelf brands don’t like to mention it, but it’s possible their computers can affect patients, their medical devices, or both. Medical computers that are medical grade don’t have this issue. Instead, they’ve been built from the ground up to meet the highest requirements available for safety in a medical setting. They have been designed against hazards like fire, ignition from flammable anesthetics, electrical shock, mechanical impact, excessive electrical energy output, and radiation. They won’t interfere with potentially life-sustaining or saving nearby medical devices like an anesthesia machine.
Computers that are medical grade will carry labels like 60601-1, EMC 60601-1-2, EN60601-1, UL60601-1, and cUL60601-1. Ask your IT guy to check all certifications from the manufacturers. They should show testing for medical grade was done by an independent lab or facility.
Fanless and Sealed
While with your IT guy or gal, ask them to see if the computer is fanless design and is sealed IP65.
Many medical computers have these two features. The first means it keeps cool without using a fan. This has several advantages. It’s easy to keep clean since you and your staff don’t have to worry about cleaning fluids and similar products getting sucked into the machine and damaging the delicate interior. The lack of moving parts also means it will last longer – broken fans are notorious for shutting down otherwise perfectly working computers.
Ingress Protection, or IP, shows how well-sealed the computer is against dust and liquids. A computer with an IP 65 means it provides total protection from dust entering the interior, while the 5 means it’s protected against low pressure water jets. In more practical terms, you don’t have to worry about damaging your medical computer while cleaning or by spilling coffee all over the touchscreen.
Compatible with Legacy Devices
You probably aren’t going to get everything new for the business. Or you’ll have older equipment that are essential to your business but can’t be easily – or inexpensively – upgraded or replaced. Whatever the reason, you’ll want your computers to be able to still work with these “legacy devices.”
That’s where legacy ports come in. Built into many medical computers, these allow them to connect to the older X-ray machine or anesthesia setup. You and your staff can control the device as well as access its data.
And this is not a one-way street. The device can get many of the advantages of the medical computer and its more modern features depending on the setup. Advanced security features, like built-in RFID, makes sure only authorized staff have access to the device or the computer’s data.
You can get years of life out of perfectly working legacy devices which leads to lower expense and greater profitability.
Conclusion
Healthcare has many unique opportunities and challenges. Thankfully, businesses like computer manufacturers realized this and have built equipment to handle them. Make sure to check these medical computers as you set up your business. You’ll find many of their features, like medical grade, will benefit your business in the long run.
