Assessment of equipment utilization and maintenance schedule at a dental institution in Bengaluru, India

Abstract

Introduction: Quality of diagnostic and treatment care provided to patients largely depends on the availability of sophisticated medical equipment. Regular equipment maintenance helps in providing quality care and maintaining utilization coefficient (UC) of the medical equipment. Equipment utilization is the evaluation of medical equipment necessity, appropriateness, and efficiency of the use in diagnosing and treating a patient. If equipment shows UC of more than 50%, it is said to be a good investment. Objective: To assess UC of dental institution equipment along with their maintenance schedule to increase operational efficiency. Materials and methods: An observational study was conducted at a 250 chaired dental institution in Bengaluru in 2015 to calculate the use coefficient of medical equipment. Maintenance schedule was also recorded for all the equipment. Necessary permissions were obtained before starting the study. Results: Around 50% of these medical equipments were unde-rutilized. Only four equipments had preventive maintenance schedule under which services usually provided every 4 months. Most of the equipment did not have any maintenance contract. Conclusion: It should be an earnest endeavor of the management and users to optimize the equipment utilization to obtain maximum return on capital invested. In an era of cost-intensive medical care, every equipment being installed in health care institutions need to be fully and properly utilized. Clinical Significance: Findings of this study will enable the administrators to ensure that the equipment is in proper working condition to provide optimal patient care.