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Hospitals should think twice before allowing patients to use their own medical equipment while staying at the facility as inpatients. This practice can jeopardize patient safety if the patient-owned equipment fails to work properly.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, May 25, 2004

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Hospitals should think twice before allowing patients to use their own medical equipment while staying at the facility as inpatients.

Most hospitals allow inpatients to use their own motorized wheelchairs, continuous positive airway pressure machines, and other devices. But this practice can jeopardize patient safety if the patient-owned equipment fails to work properly, warns ECRI, a nonprofit health services research agency, in a new 14-page risk analysis report.  

ECRI's risk management experts recommend that facilities develop a policy statement on patient-owned equipment that clearly outlines restrictions and allowances.

Hospitals that do allow patients to use their own medical equipment should require a safety inspection, approval from the patient's physician, and verification that nursing staff understands how to operate the patient-owned equipment, the Plymouth Meeting, PA-based ECRI advises

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