Clinical Engineering is an important area for health care facilities, capable of applying engineering and management techniques to improve health technologies. In this context, this paper reports the economic impacts of the application of clinical engineering management techniques in a large Brazilian public hospital, which is also a reference for high complexity medical procedures - General Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia. The discussion is supported by a quantitative documentary research, which took into account not only the economic aspects, but also the quality of the service provided. The survey was based on reports and administrative documents from 2001 to 2010, related to human resources, service and quality indicators, costs of parts and contracts. Among the findings, it was observed a reduction of approximately 20% in corrective maintenance and their stabilization over time, even as the technological park of the institution increased. As for the overall amount of cost with contracts, there was a reduction of approximately 65% during the period. The savings generated by the Clinical Engineering Service, for the institution, were about R$ 2 million in 2010. The cumulative savings over the period of 2001 to 2010 were about R$ 7.6 million. Based on those results, it can be concluded that the Clinical Engineering Service provided a significant reduction in costs for the institution, by means of setting and training its own team, reducing costs and a better planning of maintenance. Those results demonstrate the importance of a Clinical Engineering Service for best managing costs and technologies in hospitals, whether public or private.
Hospital management; Health technology; Costs; Maintenance
