Cost of operation and reliability of two brands of volume ventilators

Maintenance records during 12 months for 16 MA-1 ventilators, 7 BEAR-1 ventilators more than one year old, and 6 new BEAR-1 ventilators were compared. The MA-1 ventilators had the best record in every important category except cost for accessory parts and ventilator cost per patient hour with retrofit and preventive maintenance. The MA-1 ventilators needed repair once every 8,329 hours of use, compared with once every 2,500 hours for older BEAR-1 ventilators and once every 4,277 hours for newer BEAR-1 ventilators. Total costs of repairs were $430.84 for 16 MA-1 ventilators, and $3,064.44 for 7 BEAR-1 ventilators out of warranty. Costs of replacement parts were $3,097.01 for the MA-1 ventilators, $986.21 for the older BEAR-1 ventilators, and $845.32 for the newer BEAR-1 ventilators. The total cost per patient hour of use was 11 for the MA-1 ventilators and 13 and 3 respectively for the two BEAR-1 groups. Adding costs for retrofit for the MA-1 ventilators and projected costs for preventive maintenance of the BEAR-1 ventilators tripled the cost per hour of use for all three groups. The frequency of breakdowns for both brands of ventilators underlines the need for preventive maintenance, but substantial cost increases will result from those programs.