Solutions
Continuity Assurance
Lower rates and no security deposit for equipment that connects to our service network and tells us it is installed, maintained and in service.
At a glance
- Rate reduction
- Up to 0.85 percentage points
- Security deposit
- None on enrolled equipment
- Enrollment
- Voluntary, agreed at signing
- Eligible equipment
- Monitoring, infusion; ventilators for reporting
- Hospitals enrolled
- 437 of 611
- Introduced
- February 2021
What Continuity Assurance gives a hospital
Equipment enrolled in Continuity Assurance connects to our service network and reports, once an hour, that it is installed where the agreement says, that its preventive maintenance is up to date, and how much it is used. It reports nothing about patients.
That information lowers the risk we and our funders carry when we finance the equipment, and we pass the difference to the hospital:
- A lower rate. Up to 0.85 percentage points below the same agreement without Continuity Assurance.1
- No security deposit on enrolled equipment, including for hospitals in the Rural Hospital Program.
- One view of every enrolled asset in the Client Center: location, service history, software version and hours of use.
- Earlier warning of service needs. Missed preventive maintenance is flagged to your clinical engineering team before it becomes a survey finding.
About 71 percent of the eligible equipment we finance is enrolled. Enrollment is voluntary and is agreed when an agreement is signed.
What can be enrolled
| Category | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Patient monitoring | Bedside monitors not in use at the bedside, central stations and telemetry |
| Infusion systems | Pumps and modules held in storage or in the equipment pool |
| Ventilators | Reporting only. Ventilators are never placed in service hold. |
| Critical-care beds | Beds connect to our service network for Utilization Pricing. They are not part of Continuity Assurance. |
How it works
Enrollment
Enrollment is set out in your agreement. Your relationship manager lists the enrolled assets in the equipment schedule, with the rate reduction that applies.
Connection
Enrolled equipment connects through its manufacturer’s remote-service network or through a Wardmore gateway installed by our field asset specialists. Your network team approves the connection before it is made.
Monthly confirmation
Each month the Client Center shows every enrolled asset’s status. Exceptions, such as equipment moved between buildings, are confirmed with your team.
If an account falls behind
We contact your finance team at 10, 30 and 60 days past due, and offer a payment plan at every stage. Our Rural Hospital Program has its own longer timetable.
Service hold, as a last resort
If an account is more than 90 days past due and no plan has been agreed, enrolled equipment may enter service hold under the terms of the agreement. Hospitals are told in writing, and in advance, before any equipment enters service hold.
Release
Service hold is released remotely by our Continuity Operations Center, normally within one hour of the account being brought current or a plan being agreed. Nothing needs to be done at the hospital.
About service hold
Service hold is the step that makes Continuity Assurance work, and the reason enrolled equipment can be financed at a lower rate: it gives our funders confidence that equipment will not remain in service indefinitely without payment. We use it rarely. In the twelve months to September 30, 2026, equipment at 0.4 percent of enrolled hospitals entered service hold, and every hold was released within a day of the account being resolved.
Equipment in service hold stays connected and remains in its place. It shows a service message on its display and returns to normal operation as soon as the hold is released.
Our commitments
- Monitoring equipment in use at the bedside will not be placed in service hold.
- Ventilators are never placed in service hold.
- Hospitals are told in writing, and in advance, before any equipment enters service hold.
- Our Continuity Operations Center is staffed 24 hours a day. A hospital’s chief executive or nominated contacts can reach the duty manager at any time on (615) 019-4488.
These commitments are written into our procedures and into every Continuity Assurance agreement. We made the first of them on August 15, 2025, after monitoring equipment at a hospital we serve was in service hold for nine hours. Read our statement and the update of September 4, 2025.
Questions hospitals ask
Does Continuity Assurance give Wardmore access to patient information?
No. Enrolled equipment reports its own location, maintenance status and hours of use. It does not send patient identifiers, waveforms, alarms or clinical data, and Wardmore is not a business associate of the hospital for Continuity Assurance.
Who operates the service network?
Wardmore operates the Continuity Operations Center and its gateways. Connections to some equipment are made through the manufacturer’s own remote-service network, under the manufacturer’s security controls. Remote functions for that equipment depend on a third-party maintenance network.
Can our clinical engineers release a service hold?
No. Release is made remotely by the Continuity Operations Center, so that it can be made at any hour without anyone at the hospital needing a password or a visit.
Can we leave Continuity Assurance?
Yes, at any anniversary of the agreement, on 90 days’ notice. The rate reduction ends from the same date, and a security deposit may then apply.
Page last updated October 14, 2026.
Notes
- Compared with the same agreement without Continuity Assurance, for hospitals in the same credit band. The reduction depends on the equipment, the term and the hospital’s credit. Each agreement describes Continuity Assurance in full, and the agreement governs.