1. Patient Care Equipment
Management
Chapter 18

2. Learning Objectives:
  Discuss the responsibilities of Central Service Technicians for
managing patient care equipment
  Identify the purposes of commonly-used patient care equipment.
  Identify handling requirements and concerns for common patient
care equipment:
 Cleaning equipment
 Managing inoperative equipment
 Preparing equipment for use
 Storing equipment
 Tracking equipment
  Describe the differences and explain advantages and disadvantages
of purchase, lease, rent, and loan options for patient care equipment
  Review other basic patient care equipment concerns: maintenance
and repair and outsourcing

3. Patient Care Equipment
 Portable (mobile) equipment that is
used to assist in the care and
treatment of patients. For example,
suction units, heat therapy units, IV
infusion pumps, etc.
 Must Be:
 Readily available when needed.
 Safe
 Functional
 Free from Soil
 Must be managed effectively

4. Dangers of Ineffective
Equipment Management:
 Improperly cleaned equipment poses an
infection control threat
 Improperly assembled equipment may delay
treatment
 Inaccurately tracked equipment can delay
treatment and/or cost the facility money if it has
to rent additional equipment to replace “lost”
equipment

5. Biomedical Engineering Department
 The hospital department responsible for
performing safety inspections and
function tests on medical equipment
 Commonly abbreviated as “Biomed
Department”

6. Equipment Responsibilities
 Central Service
 Dispense
 Track
 Retrieve
 Clean/Decontaminate
 Reassemble
 Store
 Biomedical
Department:
 Perform Safety
Inspections
 Perform Function
Tests
 Make Repairs

7. Preventive Maintenance
 Periodic inspections scheduled according to equipment manufacturers’
recommendations
 Biomed maintains detailed records on routine checks, repairs, and other
important information regarding each piece of equipment
 Equipment is inspected and dated with Preventive Maintenance (PM)
stickers
 Central Service Technicians should not dispense equipment when the
PM sticker indicates it is due for an inspection

8. Biomed Repairs
 Central Service Technicians should also route
equipment to the Biomed Department when it is
visibly damaged or when it has been reported as
defective

9. Basic Types of
Patient Care Equipment
 Pages 364-366 in the
Text provide
information about
common types of
patient care
equipment handled
by Central Service
Technicians.

10. Handling Soiled (Used)
Patient Care Equipment
 All Patient Care
Equipment that has
been dispensed must
be considered
contaminated and
cleaned, even if it
does not have visible
soil

11. Cleaning
Patient Care Equipment
 Follow Manufacturer’s
Instructions
 Pay close attention to
Detail
 During the cleaning
process perform a visual
inspection. Look for:
 Cracked or Frayed Cords
 Broken Components
 Damaged or missing
electrical prongs
 Etc.

12. Managing Inoperative
Patient Care Equipment
 Identify and Tag
Damaged or
Nonfunctioning
Equipment and Route it
to the Biomed
Department
 Do Not return to service
until the unit has been
checked

13. Preparing Patient Care
Equipment for Use
 Equipment should be
stored “ready for
use”
 Add disposable
accessories, check or
replace batteries, etc.

14. Storing
Patient Care Equipment
 Clean, assembled equipment
should be stored in a clean,
secure, designated location
 Some equipment has special
storage requirements, such as
connection to an electrical
outlet to ensure that batteries
are fully charged when the
item is dispensed

15. Tracking
Patient Care Equipment
 Equipment can be
tracked Manually or
with a Computerized
program
 Tracking Systems are
discussed in detail in
Chapter 19 (pages
371-376)

16. Tracking Systems Should
Provide Information, such as:
 Current location of the equipment
 Patient charging information (if applicable)
 Information about usage and trends
 Usage

17. Procuring New and Additional
Equipment
Meeting Patient Needs

18. The Need for New and
Additional Equipment
 New Technologies
 Increased Need
(patient volume)

19. Equipment Purchase
 Determine the need for specific equipment
 Identify the type (model, style, and brand)
 Budget for its purchase
 Incorporate into the system
 The facility owns the equipment

20. Equipment Lease
 Determine the need for the equipment
 Contract with the manufacturer or leasing company
to lease (use) the equipment for a specified period
of time
 At the end of the lease period, the facility has the
option to return the equipment and obtain newer
technology or purchase it

21. Equipment
Rental vs. Leasing
Equipment rental is usually done on
a short term basis, leasing is for a
longer term

22. Equipment Rental
 Facility identifies immediate need for
equipment (usually because of high demand
or special needs of a specific patient)
 The facility contracts for a short term rental
from an equipment rental company

23. Manufacturer’s Loan
 Manufacturer agrees to provide equipment to
a healthcare facility at no charge
 That is usually dependent on a commitment
from the facility to purchase equipment
components such as tubing, pads, sleeves,
etc.

24. Central Service’s Role in Managing
Patient Care Equipment:
 Provide Safe, Clean,
and Complete
equipment
 Maintain the
availability of
equipment by
coordinating
workflow

25. Equipment
Repair and Maintenance
Keeping equipment safe, functional,
and ready for use

26. Preventive Maintenance (PM)
 Service provided to
equipment to
maintain it in proper
operating condition
by providing planned
inspection, and by
detecting and
correcting failures
before they occur

27. Repair
 Procedures used to
return equipment
to proper
operating
condition after it
has become
inoperative

28. Outsourcing
 The transfer of
control of a
hospital equipment
management
system to an
external entity

29. Maintenance Insurance
 Allows a hospital to retain control of its
own equipment
 Hospital contracts with an external
insurance group to insure the costs of
maintaining equipment

30. Proper
Equipment Management
 Ensures the
availability of safe
and functional
equipment
 Supports quality
patient care