Australia's medical technology management needs a re-think
Concerns about the implications for Australia’s health system of current medical technology management practices are the focus of a discussion paper released today by Engineers Australia.
The publication, Crossroads – A Discussion Paper on Managing Medical Technology for an Assured Future, raises issues around the essential roles provided by clinical engineering professionals.
Speaking at the release of the paper at the Australian biomedical conference in Darwin today, the chair of the Engineers Australia College of Biomedical Engineering, Graeme Macaulay, said, “The health care community, governments and other stakeholders need to have a re-think of better ways to ensure the diagnostic integrity and longer-term maintenance of the more than $1billion worth of generally ageing medical technology equipment in our hospitals.
“Medical technology has evolved to the situation today where equipment items are no longer stand-alone, but are networked and form part of complex medical data and information systems.
“At the same time, while clinical engineering facilities in Australian hospitals have tended to develop from a strong technical base, many organisations do not have the over-arching professional engineering skills embedded in their strategic management of medical technologies into the future.
“We often see a move away from in-house clinical engineering expertise in our hospitals to outsourcing as a perceived cost-saving opportunity, but this is contrary to international trends.
“Besides the risks associated with outsourcing, the facts are that the retention or development in-house clinical engineering services is an effective means of improving the cost effectiveness of services.
“If the medical equipment used in our health system is to be state-of-the-art, safe, effective and reliable for the Australian community well into the future, now is the time for healthcare executives and clinical engineers to canvas together opportunities to better integrate medical technology and management practices for patient care,” Macaulay said.
A copy of the discussion paper and the invitation by Engineers Australia for comments is available at www.engineersaustralia.org.au/crossroads.
Media Contact: John Bright – 0407 234 490 / jbright@engineersaustralia.org.au
Engineers Australia is the peak representative for the profession with a membership of over 95,000
Comments 1
ACHS + Biomedical Engineering Departments After experiencing 2 x site inspections by the ACHS I have come to the conclusion that they have failed patients (safety) with respect professional responsibility and biomedical engineering departments and I would strongly suggest that this be pursued by the Biomedical Colleague as a significant step towards compliance to AS3551 etc and the future of hospital based Biomed Departments . We need to prequalify them before allowing them to tick that box !( and be honest by reporting on the quality of their survey ) “It is questionable whether the surveillance provided by the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Hospital Accreditation program has the technical rigour to read between the lines to ensure that the standards and performance defined by documentation are reflected in fact.” We have to acknowledge relevant to other reported risks within hospitals , equipment is pretty far down the priority list however if you accept that under reporting is “as bad” as reported by the TGA , MRHA , FDA and every other organisation then as hospital based biomeds we are ideally positioned to address this – but unfortunately it’s not happening . If fact, my experience has been that biomed avoid reporting issues . There is not enough space here to even scratch the surface of issues which need to be addressed – but “No Fault Found” and “User Issues” are something hospital based biomeds can objectively address at the source however its simply not happening http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=dr+kelly+%2B+tga+medical+devices&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CGcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.health.gov.au%2Finternet%2Fsafety%2Fpublishing.nsf%2FContent%2Fcom-pres_2009-MeDevIncWs-con%2F%24File%2FKelly.pdf&ei=iS6rT8vvDOG1iQeos5TFAw&usg=AFQjCNH14TH8n3WxrIso_LX2PsuruuSIUQ [ see slide 28] . George Koning http://bioclinicalservices.com.au/
Posted at Thu, 10/05/2012 - 1:05pm | Author: 4054410
