Development of a computerized equipment management program at Children's Hospital "Bambino Gesù" of Rome, Italy.

The main activities of the Clinical Engineering Service at the Children's Hospital "Bambino Gesù" of Rome, Italy and the computerized system developed in-house for electromedical equipment management are described here. The approach recently adopted and implemented for an objective cost/benefit evaluation of the equipment installed at the hospital is also described. The program outputs appear to be effective tools, both in evaluating maintenance costs and workload increases from new equipment installations and, more relevantly, in comparing similar equipment from different manufacturers during prepurchase evaluation.