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Received April 4, 2015, accepted May 8, 2015, date of publication June 1, 2015, revised March 21, 2018.

Planning Medical Technology Management

in a Hospital

1
By Y David and EG Jahnke 2
1
Biomedical Engineering Consultants, LLC, Houston, TX
2
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

ABSTRACT

Appropriate deployment of technological innovation contributes to improvement in the quality of health care
delivered, the containment of cost, and access to health care services. Hospitals have been allocating a significant
portion of their resources to procuring and managing capital assets; they are continuously faced with demands for
newer medical technology and are challenged to interoperate and manage legacy and newer generation of inventory
simultaneously. To objectively manage this investment over it life cycle, hospitals are adopting medical technology
management programs that need pertinent information and planning methodology for integrating new equipment
into existing operations as well as for optimizing costs of ownership of all equipment. Clinical engineers can identify
technological solutions based on the matching of new medical equipment with the hospital’s objectives. They can
review their institution’s overall technological position, determine strengths and weaknesses, develop equipment-
selection criteria, supervise installations, train users and monitor post procurement performance to assure meeting of
goals. This program, together with cost accounting analysis, will objectively guide the capital assets decision-making
process. Cost accounting analysis is a multivariate function that includes determining the amount, based upon a
strategic plan and financial resources, of funding to be allocated periodically for medical equipment acquisition and
replacement. Often this function works closely with clinical engineering to establish equipment’s useful lifespan,
prioritization of acquisition, upgrade, and replacement of inventory within budget confines and without conduct-
ing time-consuming, individual financial capital project evaluations. The clinical engineer’s skills and expertise are
needed to facilitate the adoption of an objective methodology for implementing the program, thus improving the
match between the hospital’s needs and budget projections, equipment performance and cost of ownership. System-
atic planning and execution will result in a program that assures appropriate inventory level at the lowest life-cycle
costs at optimal performance.
Keywords – clinical engineering, equipment assessment, technology management, equipment planning, technology
evaluation, program methodology, cost accounting, life cycle, capital asset, budget.

InTRoduCTIon
Over the past one hundred years, the dependence of the
The appropriate deployment of technology contributes
health care system on medical technology for the delivery
to improvement in the quality of health care delivered, the
of its services has continuously grown. In this system,
containment of cost and to increased access to services
the technology facilitates the delivery of the “human
offered by the health care system.

23 J Global Clinical Engineering Special Issue 1: 23-32; 2018