A review of Biomedical Equipment Maintenance and Repair Operations in The Context of Medical Technology Management

Abstract

Abstract One of the characteristics of information age is that the importance attributed to human and human health has been increasing. This situation necessitates that the health sector aiming to improve the quality of human life should use advanced technological capabilities in services administered. Thus, effectiveness and usage rate of state-of-the-art biomedical equipment in healthcare services have increased. Together with desire to reach the healthcare standards in developed countries, the facts that patient safety and patient rights concepts have become important and philosophy of total quality has become wide-spread are some of the other factors increasing the importance and use of biomedical equipment. This process, in which use and effectiveness of technology have increased this much, has made the concept of maintenance, repair, and calibration of biomedical devices extremely important in terms of controlling the healthcare expenses. When considered at sectoral level, developments have sparked off all the sectors including private foundations and public institutions. In this context, providing maintenance, repair and calibration of biomedical devices has brought various implementations alongside. With this study, researchers aimed to develop suggestions over the process to be followed in calibration services upon cost effectiveness-benefit assessment of calibration of biomedical devices and literature study which will form conceptual frame. For this reason, article 25-106-A of the regulation over amending the administration regulations of the treatment institutions with bed according to the provision of the Ministry of Health numbered 2005/8720, which states “Health institutions can not only administer these services by themselves with the units that they have but also have them administered by means of service purchasing from outside” has been questioned. Two middle scale public hospitals have been included in this study. Maintenance and repair cost of biomedical devices, calibration cost of medical devices, and calibration cost of the calibrators used to calibrate biomedical devices of the subject hospitals have been compared to each other. In analyzing process anesthesia equipment frequently used in hospitals, electrocuting, electrocardiography, x-ray and ventilator devices have been chosen as samples. It has been observed that the cost of establishing a calibration laboratory alone is 456.870 TL according to the data acquired from the indications of case analyze conducted. In order to meet this expense, 1011 medical devices should be calibrated in a year. According to these results, following conclusions have been reached: 1. Institutions should establish their own laboratory at A1 and A2 type hospitals. 2. For Maintenance & repair services; biomedical clinic and engineering centers should be established at A1 and A2 type hospitals, services should be administered by lesser amount of personnel at B, C, and D type hospitals. 3. Employing personnel for maintenance, repair, and calibration services is not an appropriate course of action at E type hospitals, purchasing these services from outside is more appropriate.