GE Healthcare is collaborating with ReLink Medical to reduce medical device waste for healthcare providers, a feat that involves selling, recycling, or donating equipment that is no longer needed.
GE Healthcare is the spin-off entity from GE that housed the company’s medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and digital solutions business. The $18.3 billion independent company has imaging, ultrasound, patient care solutions, and pharmaceutical diagnostics businesses. ReLink Medical is a healthcare technology company that specializes in asset disposition.
The collaboration aims to help healthcare providers uncover cost savings through medical device waste. Approximately 10% of medical assets are retired by healthcare providers each year, according to GE Healthcare, leaving room on the table for potential cost savings when managing medical device waste.
“A potential and often overlooked source of expense for providers is medical device waste, which includes aging, or end-of-life, medical devices that sit idle in a healthcare provider’s inventory,” said Mohamed El-Demerdash, president, of U.S. and Canada service for GE HealthCare. “With this collaboration, GE HealthCare will help healthcare providers manage their clinical devices for the full lifecycle of their equipment, a true wing-to-wing solution, from capital planning and purchasing to maintenance and final disposition of the equipment.”
Reducing the environmental impact of the healthcare industry has become a bigger priority as of late, with Honeywell recently teaming up with Recipharm to develop pressurized metered dose inhalers that use Honeywell’s near-zero global warming potential propellant. Meanwhile, healthcare services company Cardinal Health announced its plans earlier this year to reduce waste and increase energy efficiency at its facilities and transportation fleet.
GE Healthcare and ReLink Medical plan to help healthcare providers deal with medical devices once they are no longer needed. If the medical equipment is resold, a percentage of the revenue from that sale is returned to the healthcare provider as credits that can be used to purchase other equipment or parts.
The credits can also be used to invest in training for technicians and engineers; purchase on-demand services, such as deinstallations or specific hospital modernization projects; or redeem the revenue through a wire transfer or check from ReLink Medical.
According to reLink, its process keeps more than 6 million pounds of medical waste out of landfills each year. Beyond managing the disposition of medical waste for healthcare providers, the two companies also said they can transport equipment for redeployment between clinical sites, as well as provide long-term storage of equipment for healthcare providers at offsite locations.
“This collaboration signifies a significant step forward in revolutionizing asset management solutions and empowering healthcare organizations with the tools and technologies needed to optimize their equipment utilization,” Jeff Dalton, CEO of ReLink Medical, said in a statement. “It leverages ReLink Medical’s expertise in equipment disposition, surplus management, and inventory optimization to complement GE HealthCare’s comprehensive suite of healthcare solutions.”
