Clinical engineers: stewards of healthcare technologies

The majority of clinical engineers serve as part of the healthcare team along with physicians, nurses, technologists, and other hospital staff. The clinical engineer's role is to insure that other team members have adequate and effective technology for the time delivery of quality healthcare. In essence, clinical engineers must act as the "stewards" of healthcare technology. As effective stewards, clinical engineers need to understand the practitioners' intent, they need to possess knowledge with respect to both existing and developing healthcare technology, and they must also understand the various implications of applying the technology. Only when forearmed in this manner can clinical engineers hope to serve as successful stewards and help insure healthcare technology is applied for the greatest benefit. The implications of technology adoption and integration between diagnostic, information processing, and therapeutic systems are discussed.