










































33 J Global Clinical Engineering Special Issue 1: 33-36; 2018 

Received March 1, 2018, accepted March 19, 2018, date of publication March 25, 2018

Regional Nodes of Colombian Clinical Engineers

By A Garcia-Ibarra1, P Berrio2, M Trujillo-Toro3, F Salazar4, L Garcia5

1External consultan, Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, Bogotá, Colombia
2Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe, Medellín, Colombia
3,4Hospital San Vicente Fundación, Medellín, Colombia
5Fundación Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia

ABSTRACT

The Health Technology Management (HTM) staff in small or remote hospitals can have difficulty accessing good 
practice information, so we have created a simple, convenient, and accessible networking model for clinical engineers 
in Colombia, called Regionals Nodes. These Nodes break radically with tradition because they do not have a static 
structure that limits access to meetings or information. These Nodes are dynamic which allows them to reach more 
people in less time and at a lower cost. The Nodes use social media to be in contact, coordinate regular meetings 
with leaders and topics of interest, and disseminate large amounts of information quickly. Thus, new open spaces 
are created, they are adaptable to each region, and can easily evolve over time. Currently the Ministry of Health and 
Social Protection (MoHSP), with regional support of engineers from hospitals with national or joint commission ac-
creditation (JCI) lead the Nodes. Today, there are 240 engineers from 140 hospitals and 13 universities and a regula-
tory agency that recently joined. This initiative began in 2015 with minimal coverage and we have now reached 40% 
of the country. The members of the Nodes meet every 2 months in order to prepare projects on Medical Equipment 
Management (MEM) and share information and experiences. Some of the accomplishments and outcomes of these 
meetings are: continuous training in Colombian regulations, positioning biomedical engineers as key stakeholders 
in MEM, institutional strengthening of the MoHSP in the health technology field, and HTM regional benchmarking. 
The interaction among the members of the participant institutions has facilitated a successful knowledge and best 
practices transfer in MEM from the 8 high-complexity university hospitals to almost 140 regional and local hospitals. 
These regional and local hospitals have limited access to resources and the operation of the Nodes has contributed in 
improving the efficiency in the equipment managing process and outcomes that better service the population. One of 
the priority projects of the Nodes is collaboration with the MoHSP in the validation of the Equipment Maintenance 
and Obsolescence Assessment Manual. The next steps are strengthening of the Nodes, increasing membership and 
motivating members and institutions, and interacting with professional engineering societies and health technol-
ogy organizations worldwide. These steps will involve seeking support and improving communication with health 
authorities, hospital directors, and administrators looking for the expansion of the Nodes.

Keywords – Medical Equipment Management, regionals nodes, networking, clinical engineer. 

http://www.globalce.org
http://www.globalce.org


Garcia-Ibarra, Berrio, Trujillo-Toro, Salazar and Garcia: Regional Nodes of Colombian Clinical Engineers

J Global Clinical Engineering Special Issue 1: 33-36; 2018  34

INTRoduCTIoN
In the past few years Colombia has made important 

efforts with legislation development in biomedical equip-
ment. In this context and in terms of formulating public 
policies that establish goals to strengthen biomedical 
equipment management practices by the country's health 
care services providers, the Ministry of Health and Social 
Protection (MoHSP) has taken the lead, together with 
hospitals who have national or joint commission ac-
creditation (JCI), and established a working group called 
the “National Board,” with the objective to structure and 
recommend proposals and guidelines in this field.

With the proposals achieved as a product of a na-
tional and international reference process and review 
and dissemination of successful experiences, the context 
and the realities analysis of the country in the field of 
Medical Equipment Management (MEM), we have been 
seeking to inform health care service providers about 
their responsibilities and actions in the use, operation, 
and maintenance of technology. Furthermore, we hope to 
advance the positioning and empowerment of the leaders 
of MEM in hospitals and clinics of at all levels.

In order to promote accessibility to information, guide-
lines, and tools for MEM, the Regional Nodes were estab-
lished as a result of the work of the central government 
and the National Board. Thus, a collaborative network of 
clinical engineering was formed to socialize, disseminate, 
and validate MEM proposals in a large area of Colombia.

As additional objectives, these Nodes will contribute 
collectively to the solution of common needs, to generate 
collaboration and alliances which will materialize in mu-
tual projects, and the exchange of specialized knowledge, 
initiatives, innovations as well as experiences and best 
practices among MEM professionals.

This paper presents the set-up and implementation 
of this work initiative called Regional Nodes, as well as 
the methodology adopted for its operation, the results 
obtained, and the next steps.

METHodoLoGY
In order to achieve the proposed objectives from the 

development and work of clinical engineering Regional 
Nodes in Colombia, initially the participation of the 

MoHSP as the project leader was guaranteed. Moreover, 
the person from MoHSP would represent this institution 
and be responsible for the coordination of the Nodes, and 
consequently, the entire network.

From these providers from different regions of the 
country, clinical engineers were invited to be part of the 
National Board together with the MoHSP. This was done 
to manage and maintain the Regional Nodes of clinical 
engineering, which are working groups or technical meet-
ings held in the different regions.

The meetings were based on debates and knowledge 
generated by the National Board. Afterward, the infor-
mation flowed to the Regional Nodes with support from 
the MoHSP. After every debate, meetings were held at 
the Regional Nodes for unification, consolidation, and 
validation of the MEM information. This was followed by 
the identification of needs, feedback to the node leaders, 
and finally feedback to the MoHSP at the meetings of the 
National Board.

In order to accomplish the described methodology, it 
was established that there should be a schedule of the 
regional meetings in which MEM topics were previously 
defined and discussed. In addition, the results of the 
work done by the members of the Regional Nodes could 
be presented.

Figure 1. Best hospitals and clinics in Latin America. Rank-
ing 2016.



Garcia-Ibarra, Berrio, Trujillo-Toro, Salazar and Garcia: Regional Nodes of Colombian Clinical Engineers

35 J Global Clinical Engineering Special Issue 1: 33-36; 2018

RESuLTS
Currently we have work leaders composed of 12 clini-

cal engineers from 8 high-complexity hospitals, which are 
recognized because they have national accreditation and 
JCI accreditation, as well as successful experiences in MEM.

These 12 engineers are leading and maintaining 6 
Regional Nodes of Colombian clinical engineering (Figure 
2): Center Node: Bogotá, Cundinamarca and departments 
of the center of the country; South West Node: Valle del 
Cauca, Cauca, Nariño; Antioquia Node; Santanderes Node: 
Santander and North of Santander; Caribean Coast Node: 
Atlántico, Bolívar, Cesar, Córdoba, La Guajira, Magdalena, 
Sucre; and Coffee Triangle Area Node.

Networking has proven to be an effective method to 
optimize resources, create and strengthen communication 
channels, share MEM experiences, and facilitate knowledge 

transference. As a result, every day, clinical engineers 
are looking to be part of the network on behalf of their 
institutions and universities that provide academic and 
methodological support to the network. Table 1 shows the 

current composition of the Regional Nodes in relation to 
the number of clinical engineers, health care institutions, 
and universities which are part of the network.

Strengthening of the Regional Nodes has resulted in a 
positive impact on the MEM around the country, such as:

• Continuous training in Colombian regulations.
• Cooperation relationships among participants.
• Institutional referencing to improve processes.
• Positioning of clinical engineers as the main stake-

holders in MEM.
• Institutional strengthening of the MoHSP in health 

care technologies field.
• Better health care for patients.
• Accessibility of MEM information.
• Improving efficiency of the MEM process in regional 

and local hospitals.
• Collaboration with the MoHSP in the validation of 

the Equipment Evaluation, Maintenance and Obso-
lescence Manual.

• Contribution on the development of a proposal for 
“mandatory requirements for the medical equipment 
management” for public and private hospitals and 
clinics, blood banks, and public health laboratories.

Figure 2. Colombian Nodes map.

Table 1. Current Composition of the Regional Nodes

Region Clinical Engineers Hospitals Universities

Bogotá 60 40 2

Antioquia 40 20 5

Southwest 
Colombia 55 35 2

Santanderes 25 10 2

Coffee 
Triangle Area 30 20 1

Caribbean 
Coast 30 15 1



Garcia-Ibarra, Berrio, Trujillo-Toro, Salazar and Garcia: Regional Nodes of Colombian Clinical Engineers

J Global Clinical Engineering Special Issue 1: 33-36; 2018  36

dISCuSSIoN
Every day the strategy of the Regional Nodes gather-

ing and disseminating information is strengthened in 
Colombia. By May 2017 there were 200 clinical engineers, 
and by July 2017 there were 40 more. This shows that 
the Regional Nodes are responding to the needs of the 
clinical engineers.

The challenges we face as members and leaders of these 
Regional Nodes are to consolidate a networking culture, 
overcome communication barriers, approve criteria about 
clinical engineering, ensure credibility in the results that 
have been obtained, and engage the members to achieve 
results in the short term. Furthermore, as leaders we must 
look for ways to vitalize the National Board and Regional 
Nodes to ensure their operation in the long term.

Currently we are working on network consolidation, 
information flow improvement, referencing among the 
members, communication with the MoHSP, and promo-
tion of the integration of different stakeholders in clinical 
engineering management, including the formation of new 
Regional Nodes across the country.

We identified strengths of the Regional Nodes as the 
ability to keep creatively holding meetings and integrating 
more participants, maintaining activities that facilitate the 
network of clinical engineers, and developing solutions 
to common challenges, the management of knowledge, 
and the development of human capital.

The main opportunities for improvement are the con-
solidation and recognition of the Regional Nodes, keeping 
members motivated, and including new members. Finally, 
there will soon be the delivery of tangible products de-
signed and validated by the Regional Nodes which may 
be applicable to our country.

Future work proposed includes:
• Formation of the association or college of Colombian 

clinical engineering.
• Increasing the number of members and institutions.
• Supporting the Institute of Health Technology As-

sessment (IETS) in MEM projects.
• Working on joint projects with the American College 

of Clinical Engineering’s international committee in 
Colombia.

• Strengthening interaction with professional engineer-
ing societies and health technology organizations 
around the world.

• Improving communication with health care regulation 
authorities, hospital managers, and administrators.

• Overcoming communication barriers supported by 
the use of WebEx platforms necessary to strengthen 
virtual work.

• Construction of a website to share experiences, 
knowledge and documents.

CoNCLuSIoNS
Currently, the network has a coverage of 40% in Co-

lombian territory, with leadership from the MoHSP and 8 
hospitals who have national or JCI accreditations. As well 
there is the participation of 240 clinical engineers who 
work in 140 hospitals. Additionally, we have the support 
of the academy represented in 13 universities.

To be part of the Regional Nodes, there should be no 
cost for registration or support fees. The members should 
only demonstrate an interest in meeting colleagues, shar-
ing their experiences and knowledge, and working to 
improve practices in biomedical equipment management.

Colombia is a diverse country with large cities and 
dispersed rural areas. Regional meetings make it easier 
for areas far away from capitals, and clinical engineers 
with limited resources, to have access to information 
and tools of the best practices in biomedical equipment 
management.

CoNfLICT of INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.


