Certification of biomedical engineering technicians and clinical engineers: Important or not

Abstract

The clinical engineering staff including engineers and technicians is an important element in the use of medical technology in health care facilities. The clinical engineer is a member of the technology management team, which is involved in the selection of new technology and the design of facilities for the use of the technology. What is the impact on healthcare delivery as a result of certified Clinical Engineers and Biomedical Engineering Technicians (BMETs)? Can a certified clinical engineering staff improve accreditation of hospitals? Certification of staff is one measure of quality control for medical technology. However, no country requires that the BMETs and Clinical Engineers be certified in order to perform any functions with medical technology. The history of certification will be presented including how it differs in different countries. The recognition of certification of BMETs and Clinical Engineers by the healthcare community will be discussed. The first certification programs were initiated in 1972 in the United States. A clinical engineer may be called a biomedical engineer or medical engineer and different terminology is also used for the BMETs.