Specifications of the modern information system for maintenance of medical equipment in healthcare

Abstract

Effective management of the maintenance of medical equipment (ME), especially high-tech one, is one of the main issues for the quality of health care, for the provision of cost-effective health services and for saving , even in developed countries, insufficient resources. Medical equipment maintenance (EM) includes all activities related to ensuring an adequate level of service and limiting the downtime of medical equipment in a healthcare organization. Traditionally, EM is categorized as preventive maintenance (PM) and corrective maintenance (CM). The principle of PM is prediction. PM can be planned and predictive, ie. Just-In-Time (JIT) maintenance. Predictive maintenance can only be applied to new high-tech medical devices that have built-in self-testing. Planned preventive maintenance is carried out in accordance with the maintenance plan for a certain period of time. As a rule, when creating the plan, we follow the manufacturer's recommendations for preventive maintenance of ME given in the technical documentation of the ME, especially in the instructions for the maintenance of the ME. Predictive or JIT maintenance makes it possible to detect and solve the problem before problems and contingencies actually occur, and this is done on the basis of intelligent monitoring and analysis of the state of ME at the right moment, which ensures the optimal time for intervention, so that maintenance performed only when necessary. The information system for the management of the maintenance of ME in healthcare institutions would interconnect healthcare institutions and enable the fast and safe exchange of data and information related to the maintenance of ME and enable the optimal maintenance of ME in healthcare institutions, increasing the availability of this equipment, especially high-tech equipment, with significant reduction of the total cost of maintaining ME (of the order of 30%). One of the main reasons for the unsustainability of the existing approach to the maintenance of ME in the healthcare institutions of Serbia is that each healthcare institution independently takes care of the maintenance of its own ME. This approach is expensive and significantly affects high maintenance costs. This approach needs to change.