When a scanner, a steriliser or a ventilator breaks down, it is not just a budget line: it is delayed care. You still need to know how to measure what you are trying to protect. Four simple indicators are enough to start.
Why availability is the right starting point
In June 2025, the World Health Organization published a 104-page document on the information system for managing the inventory and maintenance of medical devices. In its presentation of the document, it recalls that medical devices support diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and rehabilitation, and that their availability and proper management are decisive for patient outcomes.
For a hospital management team, this translates into a concrete question: out of the time this equipment was supposed to be in service, how long was it actually usable? That is availability. It speaks as much to the physician as to the finance director.
The four indicators to track
The definitions below are common maintenance practices. They are offered here as a starting point, to be adapted to your context.
Availability
iWhat it measures
The share of planned time during which the equipment is usable
ƒHow to calculate it
(Planned time − downtime) ÷ planned time × 100
Downtime
iWhat it measures
The total hours during which the equipment could not be used
ƒHow to calculate it
Sum of the durations between breakdown and return to service
Repair time
iWhat it measures
How quickly service is restored after a breakdown
ƒHow to calculate it
Average of the durations between the breakdown report and return to service
Preventive done
iWhat it measures
Compliance with the maintenance plan
ƒHow to calculate it
Preventive interventions done ÷ planned interventions × 100
Measuring without burdening the teams
The most common trap is trying to measure everything on every piece of equipment from day one. It is better to start with the critical equipment: imaging, operating theatre, intensive care, sterilisation, laboratory. Data entry must happen at the time of the breakdown, by the technician, from his phone, even without a connection. Data entered at the end of the week from memory is rarely reliable.
- When activity rises, the equipment is more heavily used and every hour of downtime costs more in deferred care. This is precisely where measuring availability becomes useful.
Reading the figures to act
An indicator is only useful if it triggers a decision. Availability falling on a specific equipment item invites a look at how often it breaks down. A repair time that gets longer points to parts, contracts or skills. Little preventive maintenance done often explains avoidable breakdowns. The goal is not to display percentages, but to know where to act first.
How MAINTEX helps
MAINTEX lets you record every breakdown and every intervention on the equipment concerned, from a mobile phone, with or without a connection. The indicators are then calculated from data entered at the source, and assisted diagnosis helps technicians find the probable causes of recurring breakdowns.
See how MAINTEX calculates availability, downtime and repair time from field interventions.
