Various healthcare regulatory agencies require that, in essence, “every healthcare facility shall have in place a program to assess and control the clinical and physical risks associated with the use of medical equipment — regardless of ownership.” Generally, BMETs provide the first line of defense in that battle. But when the in-house battalion needs reinforcements, it calls in an outside regiment. Lasting peace, not just truce, comes to those who manage multivendor relationships successfully.
Management of a healthcare facility’s multivendor services is a many-splendored relationship — one in which clinical engineering departments and BMETs play a vital role. Service, the delivery of that service and the quality of that delivered service are — of course — paramount. At the same time, however, the level of commitment all parties bring to the relationship as they carry out their respective roles can dictate the success of that relationship.
The role of the BMET
As clinical engineering departments well know, the various healthcare regulatory agencies require that, in essence, “every healthcare facility shall have in place a program to assess and control the clinical and physical risks associated with the use of medical equipment — regardless of ownership.”
In order to meet this requirement, hospitals and healthcare facilities provide in-house, third party or manufacturer support for the facility’s medical equipment repairs, maintenance and performance-assurance testing. Generally, clinical engineering or biomedical equipment technicians are first in the support line.
When in-house expertise is limited on a particular type or piece of equipment, organizations contract with an outside service. Sometimes that assistance comes from a local service provider; other times it comes from the OEM (original equipment manufacturer). Still other times it comes from another manufacturer’s support-services segment.
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