Present use of clinical engineering in hospitals: a nationwide survey

To determine the present involvement of clinical engineers in hospitals, 1120 hospitals with more than 250 beds were surveyed. Replies were received from 573 inquiries for a 51% return. Sixty percent of the respondents stated that they presently have in-house service, 31% employ clinical engineers, and 29% only employ BMET's. Seven percent showed no interest in clinical engineer-type service. Extrapolating the data to all hospitals with more than 250 beds, there will be a minimum of 345 new clinical engineering positions during the next two to five years.