Standards in Practical Use. . . What You Need to Know About EQ56

Abstract

Since its initial release in 1999, ANSI/AAMI EQ56, Recommended Practice for a Medical Equipment Management Program has set the bar for the minimum requirements of a successful medical equipment management program. EQ56 was reaffirmed in December 2008, and the committee is discussing when to start working on a revision. With changes to Joint Commission requirements planned for 2009, EQ56 remains a valuable tool for any biomed shop or clinical engineering department. Get the facts on EQ56 below.Everyone involved in healthcare medical equipment management, regardless of whether they are in-house or contracted. This includes not only those directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the department, but—in some ways more importantly—also the administrators overseeing the medical equipment management program. These could include the chief operating officer (COO), chief information officer (CIO), chief nursing officer (CNO), and even the chief executive officer (CEO).EQ56 sets the minimum standards about how to set up a program, including space, training, tools, and performance. It also provides you with the tools to measure your level of compliance.Always, but especially before a hospital's administration compares options for their medical equipment management program, be it a department or contracted service. Also, EQ56 helps hospitals provide and measure a minimum level of service. While the Joint Commission has not adopted this standard, it will help you maintain a level of readiness for accreditation surveys. (Incidentally, three current and former Joint Commission senior engineers in the Standards Interpretation Group—George Mills, Dean Samet, and Ode Keil—have been involved with this standard at one time or another.)Every healthcare facility.The ultimate goal of EQ56 is to provide better patient safety by defining the minimum requirements for the maintenance of medical equipment. It accomplishes this by defining the minimum space, training, and tools for the maintenance providers. An underlying principle of the document is that efficient and well-trained technology managers who are equipped with the tools required to work safely and efficiently can concentrate on keeping equipment properly maintained without cutting corners. This, in turn, provides better, safer care (through the medical equipment) for the patients.The most important thing to do with EQ56 is ensure that the administrators throughout the reporting structure know what it is. You might purchase a copy for your administrator to keep in his or her office, or you might just make sure that they know you have it. The next thing you need to do is make sure that they know what is in it and how it applies to them.Finally, keep administrators apprised of your compliance with EQ56. You may want to add it to the scorecard section in your annual or quarterly report—simply include a line that says that your department meets or exceeds AAMI/ANSI EQ56.It is important that you keep this standard in the forefront of administrators' thinking. This can be essential if administration ever wants to look at changing their medical equipment situation by outsourcing or bringing it in-house. By knowing that there is a standard, administrators can apply it to the proposals they are considering and keep a level playing field, comparing apples to apples.If you are a well-functioning department, and if, due to budget constraints or other reasons, it is decided to attempt to cut maintenance costs, your administrator needs to have the facts readily at hand when looking at your operations. If your department is struggling with any of the standard's covered items, you should use it to help get that needed resource, be it tools, training, etc.