Evaluation of medical equipment on the basis of users' experiences and hazard registration

Assessment of medical technologies is an important topic in health services research. The article describes a special aspect of user-related evaluation of devices in Norway. The Norwegian hospitals have high technical capacity and standards but the equipment is not assessed before being purchased by the hospitals. The idealistic rules for technology assessment are of no use in practical situations. The health authorities in Norway have established a national database for users' experiences and hazard registration. When assessing equipment, it is necessary to take into consideration the situation and the people handling the devices. A system-analytic perspective is proposed for better understanding. The database for experiences with devices stores information concerning maintenance, repair and service, i.e. the whole life history of the medical technology. All this information will be accessible for the hospitals through electronic mail or electronic meetings.