Best practices for health technology management

In 2006, ECRI's Health Devices Group instituted the Health Devices Achievement Award to honor excellence in health technology management. The application process for this award yielded descriptions of many unique and effective technology management initiatives. This Guidance Article presents some of the best practices gleaned from the top award submissions. The following topics are discussed: The role of human factors testing in the technology management process. We describe one facility's approach to solving a particularly vexing problem: slow telemetry-alarm response times. The use of performance-based service contracting to improve inspection and preventive maintenance (IPM) completion rates. The advantages associated with one health system's process for grouping ventilator-dependent patients who are being cared for outside the intensive care unit. The ability of a technology assessment committee to bring a disciplined approach to the adoption of new technologies. The importance of customer satisfaction to a clinical engineering department. We describe how meeting the caregivers' needs contributes to building a patient-safe environment. The successful implementation of a new patient care technology: local anesthetic pumps.