Integrated clinical engineering and information systems

Healthcare systems are experiencing wide-scale consolidation and absorbing smaller healthcare operations. This move is driven by the current healthcare market forces, regulation and legislation, and the desire to shape healthcare service delivery for the next century. Patients demand quality and speed of service, reimbursement agencies seek volume at reduced cost, and clinicians want to know how they can satisfy reimbursement agencies and patients. Technology and dynamic process implementation provide the opportunity for one of the multidimensional solutions necessary to satisfy patients, reimbursement agencies and clinicians. This paper discusses a method to realize this opportunity through an innovative and structured clinical engineering implementation.