Clinical Engineering Performance Benchmarking – A Practical Guide

Abstract

Clinical engineering (CE), also known as healthcare technology management (HTM), professionals in many countries have experienced difficulties in obtaining recognition and support from their senior leadership, despite the fact that they have been successful in maintaining and managing healthcare equipment in safe and reliable condition. A fundamental root cause of this paradox is the lack of metrics to measure and compare CE performance, as equipment safety and reliability are not easily measured, much less the impact of equipment maintenance and management on the health outcomes of patients. CE professionals have been reluctant to measure and compare performance, believing such exercises require sophisticated skills and may expose them to closer scrutiny by their supervisors or lead them to become targets of outsourcing companies. Studies conducted with data from hundreds of American acute care hospitals have proven that these concerns are unfounded; only some readily available datasets are needed and analyses can be performed with standard spreadsheets. Well-performed benchmarking is helpful not only for CE managers to earn better recognition and support from their supervisors, but also to reduce the risk of having their team replaced by outsourcing companies. This paper provides a practical guide for CE benchmarking.