Functional status of bio-medical engg. departments in tertiary care hospitals--a comparative study

The Bio-medical Engineering departments of two major hospitals having high-tech equipment needed for routine day to day patient care were compared with respect to their staffing pattern, proficiency, frequency of failure of major and minor equipment and predictable/non-predictable 'Down time' of the selected equipment using non-parametric statistical test. The study shows that Bio-medical Engineering Department (BME) of our Institute though not full fledged as compared to Hospital 'B' however showed better results in bringing down the down time both in major, minor equipment. The major cause of failure of equipment in both the hospitals was found to be rough handling, the need for imparting training to physicians, nurses, paramedical personnel dealing with bio-medical equipment and its role in preventive maintenance is discussed. Based on the study recommendations were made for preventive maintenance, purchase policy and linked to the policy of administration. Recommendations were made to bring down the Down time to acceptable limit though not for complete elimination.