Asset Management Policy

Asset Management Policy

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Introduction

An asset is something used in regular operations in the hospital. It includes all the equipment and tangible objects in the hospital. Asset management shall involve every asset involved in the entire hospital (Amos,2020). Managing these assets shall require the application of an organized approach to maintaining their lifecycle in a way that improves value.

Asset management encompasses the application of deliberate procedures to the use and maintenance of tangible and intangible hospital assets to maximize their value (Santos, 2018). The hospital requires ownership and responsible operation and maintenance of the hospital assets (Cousineau, 2020). This policy intends to guarantee all employees and functions of the hospital are allied with the aims and assets are managed in a way that increases benefits and satisfactory levels of the services to customers safely and sustainably.

Purpose

This policy outlines strategies and practices governing the decisions on asset management at the hospital to ensure that it achieves its mission of providing quality services in a bearable and harmless environment.

Scope

The policy applies to every asset possessed by the hospital and all its features. It also applies to every employee in the hospital suppliers and consultants at the hospital.

Hospital Asset Management Policy

Types of assets

This policy applies the following assets: hospital desktops and laptops, printers, scanners, IP phones, servers, stethoscopes, MRI machines, sphygmomanometers, IR thermometers, electronic cardiac monitors, blood glucose monitors, blood gas analyzers, fetal monitors among others.

Asset value

Assets like keyboards, syringes, low-cost medicine, and other inexpensive devices will remain untracked, and their loss accounted for in the hospital budget. Any device that can store hospital data regardless to its cost must be tracked. These devices include hard drives, USB, among others. There is the tracking of hospital devices above $50 regardless of the type of the asset.

Asset tracking

All devices in the hospital have a serial number that is unique for every device. Asset tracking database used to track the assets. It will include the following: purchase date, make, model, description, type of asset, serial number, location, name of staff assigned to, department, and staff’s employee number. Every asset in the inventory should have a designated employee.

Policy Goals and Objectives

Managements of the assets shall increase the hospital’s reputation. It shall also aid in keeping track of the hospital’s equipment, thus reduce the loss of assets in the hospital. It shall also help increase the quality of services offered and therefore build its creditability.

Policy statement

The hospital shall effectively and continuously manage and maintain assets throughout the assets’ lifecycle to gain maximum health service outcomes. In the management of the assets, the hospital shall dedicate to:

1. Connecting appropriate departments and functions to create a productive working relationship and inspire information sharing
2. Use of asset management in decision making to initiate ideal value for customers
3. Guaranteeing making decisions collaboratively.

Application of the Policy

The hospital shall create and maintain suitable plans for purchase, restoration, and decommissioning of assets. This shall involve:

1. Development of long-term forecasts of investment needs and application of laborious analysis to recognize short-term needs (Cousineau, 2020).
2. Implementation of procedures to ensure investments address requirements efficiently and effectively.
3. Exploring opportunities and including new and appropriate health technologies
4. Analyzing investment strategies and related funding and enforcing mechanisms to guarantee long-term sustainability (Cousineau, 2020).
5. Assessing appropriate asset investment decisions considering the costs associated with the management of the asset throughout its life.

Newly acquired hospital assets shall be tagged, surplus furniture listed, and physical inventory of capital equipment kept.

Policy Exceptions

There are several exceptions in which the policy statement shall not apply, including the movement of the item for use in a different location. Also, all capital assets in the hospital shall be subject to capital charges except donated assets which shall not be within the capital

Policy Enforcement Clause

The enforcement of this policy shall include procedural methods like monitoring the asset inventory systems and physical asset maintenance procedures. Any staff found in violation shall be subject to disciplinary action.

References

 Amos, A., 2020. Asset Management Policies And Procedures. [online] Nyu.edu. Available at: <https://www.nyu.edu/about/policies-guidelines-compliance/policies-and-guidelines/asset-management-polices-and-procedures.html> [Accessed 21 March 2020].

Cousineau, M. (2020). A complete guide to building an asset management policy. Retrieved March 21, 2020, from https://www.fiixsoftware.com/blog/asset-management-policy-complete-guide/

Santos, O. (2018). Developing Cybersecurity Programs and Policies. Pearson IT Certification.