FMEA software program for managing preventive maintenance of medical equipment

As most health technology managers have noticed, there's no question that medical equipment used today for patient care has become more reliable. As technology has improved and continues to improve, the number and types of medical devices requiring preventive maintenance (PM), is being questioned amidst the pressure to reduce costs in the healthcare industry. The question now is how far should a clinical engineering (CE) department go to reduce the PM frequency of medical devices without compromising patient and user's safety? Answers can lie in the maintenance history of a particular piece of medical equipment or a group of medical devices. The focus of this project is to design and test a software tool to aid in the analysis and management of PM frequency using modified concepts of the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) methodology and statistical concepts to analyze PM history. A tool of such nature would aid management in revising their current PM frequency for certain medical devices and determine if it is necessary to alter the frequency in order to aid in cost reduction. This proposed program is specifically being designed for use in the Veterans Affair Medical Center in West Haven, Connecticut.