Medical Equipment Management - Equipment Control & Asset Management

Equipment Control & Asset Management

Every medical treatment facility should have policies and processes on equipment control & asset management. Equipment control and asset management involves the management of medical devices within a facility and may be supported by automated information systems (enterprise resource planning systems from Lawson Software are often found in U.S. hospitals, and the U.S. military health system uses an advanced automated system known as the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) suite of applications. Equipment control begins with the receipt of a newly acquired equipment item and continues through the item's entire life-cycle. Newly acquired devices should be inspected by in-house or contracted biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), who will establish an equipment control / asset number against which maintenance actions are recorded. This is similar to creating a new chart for a new patient that will be seen at the medical facility. Once an equipment control number is established, the device is safety inspected and readied for delivery to clinical and treatment areas in the facility.

Facilities or healthcare delivery networks may rely on a combination of equipment service providers such as manufacturers, third party services, in-house technicians, and remote support. Equipment managers are responsible for continuous oversight and responsibility for ensuring safe and effective equipment performance through full service maintenance. Medical equipment managers are also responsible for technology assessment, planning and management in all areas within a medical treatment facility (e.g. developing policies and procedures for the medical equipment management plan, identifying trends and the need for staff education, resolution of defective biomedical equipment issues).

This industry is new, and there is not a clear line between IT and Bio med.