Clinical Engineering-The Administrator´s Perspective

This paper reports on the results of a survey conducted among 70 hospital administrators to determine whether any barriers exist to their acceptance of clinical engineers in their hospital. The survey obtains administrators´ views regarding clinical engineering within the framework of their present understanding of the field. The survey shows that clinical engineering is not yet a well-established, separate professional discipline in the minds of the administrators. It also shows a disagreement between the administrators and the engineering profession regarding the need for clinical engineering personnel to hold advanced degrees. Finally, the study indicates a need for clinical engineers to make a conscious effort to increase the accessibility of information about clinical engineering to the hospital administration profession.