Key takeaways
- Vytal Assets and Brightly are two leading CMMS platforms to support operational efficiency and regulatory compliance, with Vytal being the chosen favorite
- When comparing CMMS tools, look for a CMMS purpose-built for healthcare, as well as functionality around maintenance, asset management, and mobile capabilities
- Additional elements to look for when comparing CMMS systems include data security, scalability, and ease of compliance tracking
Choosing the right Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is critical for healthcare facilities seeking to optimize operations, reduce downtime, and ensure regulatory compliance. As healthcare facilities rely heavily on medical equipment to provide quality patient care, CMMS plays a crucial role in managing these assets.
Vytal Assets and Brightly are each widely recognized for their capabilities, each with their own distinct strengths for healthcare facilities management. Take a look at each platform to help decide which CMMS is better suited for healthcare facilities management.
Why Selecting the Right CMMS Matters in Healthcare
CMMS systems are quickly becoming not just an option, but a necessity for healthcare facilities. According to Grandview Research, the global healthcare CMMS market is expected to grow by double digits through 2030, driven in large part by increasing government regulations and the need for healthcare organizations to streamline preventive maintenance and asset management in order to keep up.
Healthcare operations are incredibly complex, and selecting the right CMMS can make a significant difference in how smoothly a facility runs. From managing thousands of medical devices to ensuring compliance with ever-changing regulations, a purpose-built CMMS tailored to healthcare needs can be a game-changer. Vytal Assets and Brightly are both capable platforms, but their focus areas differ. Vytal has focused its CMMS capabilities to be purpose-built for healthcare facilities management, while Brightly offers a more generalized platform that spans several industries.
Both systems share common goals of optimizing regulatory compliance, asset management, and operational efficiency—all crucial for reducing downtime, optimizing workflows, and elevating patient safety. Healthcare facilities leaders should consider how these elements differ at their own facility than one outside healthcare, and whether a healthcare-specific CMMS will be essential to meet their needs.
Core Functionalities: Vytal vs. Brightly
Asset Management and Work Order Management
At the heart of any CMMS is asset management. Healthcare facilities depend on critical medical equipment, and downtime can directly affect patient outcomes. Vytal’s asset management system is designed specifically for healthcare environments, with robust features like automated preventative maintenance scheduling, a comprehensive asset classification system, and QR/barcode scanning for easy tracking of medical equipment. This healthcare-centric focus enables facilities to minimize the risk of asset failure and maximize equipment uptime.
While Brightly provides a solid asset management system, it’s naturally less tailored to healthcare. The platform offers general asset lifecycle management, though preparation for regulatory audits and intricacies around healthcare-critical asset prioritization may take different form.
Preventive Maintenance and Inventory Management
Preventive maintenance ensures that equipment operates smoothly and reduces unexpected breakdowns. Vytal’s preventive maintenance tools come with a pre-built library specifically designed for medical equipment, making scheduling and tracking preventive tasks easier. The platform automates work order generation for high-risk assets, ensuring that healthcare facilities can prioritize their resources efficiently and avoid critical failures.
Brightly also offers preventive maintenance capabilities, such as work order creation and tracking, assignment and scheduling, and real-time progress monitoring and communication. Its Asset Essentials asset management platform uses predefined reports and dashboards to compare performance against similar assets at other facilities, as well as Internet of Things (IoT) remote monitoring to help catch issues early-on.
Compliance and Regulatory Support
Compliance in healthcare is non-negotiable. Whether it’s meeting Joint Commission standards or ensuring readiness for DNV audits, staying compliant requires constant oversight. Vytal Assets integrates compliance management directly into its platform, offering automatic regulatory updates and tools to conduct mock audits. This feature allows healthcare organizations to stay ahead of changing regulations, avoiding costly fines and ensuring operational continuity.
Brightly’s TheWorxHub solution holistically manages healthcare operations, including compliance tasks. They don’t go into depth on how their platform delves into healthcare compliance, but do mention compliance code tracking and their capability to send compliance reports to regulatory agencies.
Usability, Efficiency and Cybersecurity
User-Friendly Interface and Customization
One of the critical factors in adopting a CMMS is how easily it can be used by staff with varying levels of technical expertise. Vytal Assets offers a highly intuitive interface specifically designed for healthcare professionals, allowing them to quickly access vital information and manage work orders with ease. The platform is customizable to fit the unique needs of each healthcare facility, from department-specific workflows to specialized compliance reporting.
Brightly addresses healthcare as one of the industries they serve. Their TheWorxHub asset management system offers user-friendly tools dedicated to risk assessment and preventative maintenance, as well as centralized data storage. Their system takes biomedical equipment and energy usage into account as well.
Mobile Access and Remote Capabilities
With healthcare facilities often spread across multiple locations, mobile accessibility is essential. Vytal’s mobile app allows technicians to access work orders, scan asset barcodes, and track maintenance remotely—even without an internet connection. This offline functionality is invaluable in emergency situations where connectivity might be limited but immediate action is required.
Brightly also offers a mobile app. Features here include direct image uploads, offline capabilities, time tracking, geo-tagging and QR code scanning.
Data Insights and Reporting
Data-driven decision-making is key to optimizing healthcare operations. Vytal’s reporting and analytics tools provide in-depth insights tailored to the unique challenges of healthcare facilities, including equipment performance, compliance status, and preventive maintenance effectiveness. These insights help healthcare executives make informed decisions on equipment purchases, replacements, and resource allocation.
Brightly offers reporting capabilities of its own, enabling users to create and run reports related to assets and maintenance, work orders, projects, budgets, safety and incidents.
Data Security and Privacy Compliance
Data security is a top concern for healthcare organizations, especially with the increasing number of cyber threats targeting medical devices. Vytal’s platform is designed with healthcare-specific encryption and regular security updates, ensuring compliance with healthcare data regulations like HIPAA. The platform also provides real-time alerts for potential security risks, allowing healthcare facilities to take immediate action.
Brightly also prioritizes cybersecurity in its CMMS, with independently audited data centers and transparent software updates. They allow role-based access controls (RBAC) and single sign-on (SSO) options for client administrators to have controls across internal and external teams.
Scalability, Support and Reliability: Growing Together with Your CMMS
Scalability for Growing Healthcare Organizations
As healthcare organizations grow, so too must their CMMS. Vytal’s scalable architecture allows facilities to seamlessly add new assets, departments, and workflows as they expand, ensuring continuous operational efficiency. The platform also integrates with other healthcare systems, making it a future-proof solution for organizations with evolving needs.
Brightly is also enabled to work with organizations as they grow. In either case, healthcare facilities leaders should ensure that their CMMS is working for them in the initial stages before scaling up.
Implementation and Training Support
Implementing a new CMMS can be challenging, but Vytal provides comprehensive support throughout the process. From system setup to staff training, Vytal ensures that healthcare teams are equipped to use the platform effectively. Additionally, Vytal’s support staff is trained specifically in healthcare operations, allowing them to offer solutions that address the unique challenges faced by healthcare organizations.
Brightly offers its ow 3-step implementation process, which includes a planning stage to assess project scope and gaps; an onboarding stage involving data synchronization, functionality configuration, trainings and testing; and continuous support after going live.
Ongoing Customer Support and Vendor Stability
Long-term reliability is critical in healthcare environments. Vytal’s track record of reliability, combined with ongoing customer support, ensures minimal downtime and quick resolutions to any issues that arise. Brightly own support program encompasses healthcare clients under their broader partner umbrella.
Vytal vs. Brightly: The Best Choice for Healthcare Facilities Management
Vytal Assets outshines Brightly in delivering healthcare-specific solutions across asset management, regulatory compliance, data security, and scalability. While both platforms offer solid CMMS functionalities, Vytal’s tailored approach to healthcare makes it the superior choice for facilities looking to optimize operations, ensure compliance, and deliver the highest quality of patient care.
Healthcare executives are encouraged to explore Vytal Assets through a demo and discover how it can transform their facility management strategies, helping them stay compliant and efficient in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
