In collaboration with the Clinical Center, ACES/CCIS is jointly developing an equipment management program to enhance clinical research and patient care by providing a comprehensive program for the management of clinical and nonclinical electrical equipment. The overall goal of the program is to assure the safety and performance of clinical equipment, to assure compliance with federal, JCAHO and other safety/performance standards, to maximize availability of equipment to designated patient care areas, and to manage costs. The Equipment Management Program will be administered by the Clinical Center and involves policies and procedures affecting ACES (safety, standardization), CCIS (maintenance, inventory management and pre-purchase planning) and all Clinical Center/Institute clinical equipment users. Specific policies and procedures are being developed to address inventory control; equipment repair; periodic inspections; preventive maintenance; pre-purchase planning; user education; equipment distribution, storage and disposal; recalls; incident reporting and alerts. A comprehensive manual will serve to document all policies and procedures pertaining to equipment management. A computer-based inventory management system is currently being implemented.
