Are you ready for JCAHO?- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Are you ready for JCAHO?- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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November 3, 2000
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In This Issue:
Partners and Tufts Reach 3-Year Agreement
AMMP Awards 2000 Scholarship Recipients
November Calendar
Obituary: Karen Kaufman Becker
Dynamic Duo: A progress report 1998-2000
Time Line
Inpatient Internists
“Two hospitals working as one”
Are you ready for JCAHO?
How does BWH keep medical devices functioning properly?
The BWH Medical Equipment Management Committee, led by Biomedical Engineering, provides oversight and establishes policies for the safe and appropriate use of medical equipment. Within BWH, there are three parties responsible for managing equipment via the BWH Medical Equipment Management Plan—Biomedical Engineering, Equipment Management Services and the Respiratory Care department. If you have a problem with a device managed by: • Biomedical Engineering—call ext. 8889 during normal business hours (page beeper 11175 during off-shift hours) to report the problem and obtain assistance. • Equipment Services—call that department at ext. 7884 to obtain a replacement/pick-up of problematic device, fill out a yellow repair tag and attach the tag to the device. If the device was involved in an incident, call ext. 8889 to report it, tell that person the control number and include the incident report number on the yellow repair tag. • Respiratory Care Department—page the therapist covering your floor. All equipment is labeled with a unique bar-coded control number for tracking purposes. It is evaluated according to where and how it is used. Equipment requiring routine maintenance is labeled with a green inspection sticker indicating dates of last and next inspection; equipment that does not require routine inspection is labeled accordingly. Call ext. 8889 to report a device that is past due for inspection. According to the Medical Equipment Management Plan, personal medical equipment should not be permitted. An exception to this plan would allow a patient to bring his or her own CPAP or BiPAP, which must be inspected by Respiratory Care upon the patient's admission to the hospital. If the patient requires a unique device that is not available in the hospital, the device may be used, provided it is approved by the patient's physician and nursing staff, and that it is inspected upon admission. As always, if the failure of the device is an unusual occurrence or poses a threat to patient safety, file a hospital incident report and remove the device from service without altering settings.