Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) departments have been thought of as a background operation, being called in when devices fail or compliance checks are due, rather than partners in shaping hospital operations. However, HTM has a direct line to hospital performance, impacting financial outcomes, asset utilization, clinical safety, and cyber programs in ways that hospital executives should no longer ignore.
By inviting the HTM teams to be at the table within different hospital operational departments, they can provide valuable insights at a strategic level, delivering the evidence that hospital leaders need to improve asset management, increase patient and provider satisfaction, and protect budgets.
From Maintenance Only to Capital Strategy
HTM’s value has expanded beyond repairs. HTM teams are helping hospitals make smarter capital decisions. Using data on repair frequency, use error, device utilization, hospital standardization programs, and lifecycle costs, HTM professionals can identify when it’s more cost-effective to repair than replace equipment, and when replacement is either overdue or can be pushed out longer.
Within the capital procurement cycle, HTM teams will easily think about asking questions around how the equipment will be utilized. Is it the right quantity? Does one manufacturer require more service than another? Will standardization enable better clinical staff rotation or reduce training requirements? What are the supply costs of that equipment? Does the cleaning align with cleaning procedures already provided by the organization? And more. Additionally, they can speak about the function and design of the equipment without the influence of the salesperson. Often, they have the data to support looking at the overall cost of ownership of the new equipment, beyond just the purchase price.
By aligning these insights with clinical demand and financial priorities, HTM reduces wasted spend, prevents unnecessary downtime, and ensures that limited capital is directed toward assets that deliver the greatest impact on patient care and hospital performance.
The Patient & Provider Satisfaction Connection
Reliable equipment affects more than throughput. It shapes the clinical experience. Clinicians rely on HTM to keep their environments safe, predictable, and operational. When devices fail or are out for service, stress levels rise, and satisfaction drops.
While preventative maintenance is a large part of what the HTM technicians do, by partnering with the providers, they can perform service in a more efficient way for the organization. Rather than removing critical equipment out of service during high-demand hours, HTM teams are scheduling preventive work after hours or when the clinical professionals aren’t using the equipment, keeping devices available when patients need them most, while still ensuring proper servicing is done. The result is better utilization, reduced clinical disruption, and higher overall equipment uptime.
One can argue that HTM’s influence also extends into the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, a survey that serves as the national standard for measuring patient experience, particularly when patient experience intersects with delays, or equipment-related interruptions. Clean, functional, well-maintained equipment reduces those risks, and when HTM staff present professionally and communicate effectively, they contribute to staff trust and patient confidence.
By maintaining a database with all work performed devices, HTM teams also provide valuable insights into different trends on equipment. For instance, if several work orders are called in on surgical device, but when the technician goes up to repair the device the problem is unable to be duplicated, the HTM leader can partner with the clinical users. Together, they can determine if more training is needed, and often provide that training with the vendor. Over time, they can show data on how the training improved the uptime on the device. This is an easy satisfier for both the frontline staff and hospital executives.
Closing the Gap Between HTM and Health IT
HTM and IT services previously worked in silos. HTM technicians were on the ground with devices, often alongside facilities management, while IT managed the networks from offices. However, as medical devices increasingly rely on network connectivity, firmware updates, and cybersecurity protocols, the HTM-IT relationship has moved from occasional collaboration to shared accountability.
The CrowdStrike incident in July 2024 is an example of how this was made clear. A widespread system outage disrupted at least 759 U.S. hospitals, many of which experienced clinical downtime because connected medical devices couldn’t be rebooted or accessed through centralized networks. Although previously patching was done by IT, this instance made it so HTM teams worked side-by-side with IT, fielding outages, reboots, troubleshooting and applying patches for devices not designed for remote recovery.
This level of interdependence requires integration, not just in communication, but in governance. Medical equipment must be managed with the same urgency and discipline as core IT infrastructure. That means network segmentation, coordinated patch cycles, shared incident response, and better visibility across all connected endpoints.
HTM Is Sitting on Untapped Value
Despite their insight into daily hospital operations, many HTM teams are still viewed as vendors or support staff, which is a strategic misstep. HTM professionals support nearly every clinical department, engage with every critical asset, and collect valuable data on the lifecycle of equipment that few others can see.
HTM is evolving into a central function for healthcare performance, alongside clinical ops, finance, and IT. As technology becomes more embedded in care delivery, hospitals can’t afford a reactive approach to asset management. They need partners who can drive uptime, reduce cost, and support strategic planning.
That’s the HTM value story: not just fixing what’s broken, but building the foundation for long-term hospital performance. It’s time for hospital leaders to rethink HTM, not as overhead, but as a strategic asset.
About Michelle Williamson
Michelle Williamson is Vice President of Client Success at InterMed. With more than twelve years of experience in healthcare technology management, she specializes in strong client relationships, optimizing teams, improving processes, and aligning equipment service strategies with hospital performance goals.
Sources: JAMA Network Open. (2024, July). CrowdStrike crash disrupted digital services at 750 US hospitals.Becker’s Hospital Review. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/cybersecurity/crowdstrike-crash-disrupted-digital-services-at-750-us-hospitals
