DETLEF MOSTLER – RETIRED, FORMERLY CHIEF TECHNICIAN, KLINIKUM KLAGENFURT PROFESSIONAL PROFILE


Defining the role of the engineering manager


Forum DACH, a collaborative platform of the national associations of Austria (OEVKT), Germany (FKT), Switzerland (IHS) and Holland (NVTG) set itself the task of creating a document to frame the professional profile of the engineer in healthcare facilities. The aim is to present this to the competent bodies and authorities and subsequently to give the role of the hospital engineer a statutory framework.


Given the interest of the European countries that are represented by the IFHE- EU to the task and the outcome, this study was translated into English for publication in other member states. It includes a universal description of the role, education and further advanced training, including: areas of responsibility and competence, duties and powers; decision making powers; advisory tasks; information requirements; and special powers. With the support of the IFHE-EU, this work will be presented to the competent bodies of the EU in order to obtain a decision at European level to regulate and determine the profession of an engineering manager in the healthcare sector. Despite a firm grounding in the


healthcare/hospital sector, within most European countries an engineering manager has no generally accepted professional profile. A recognised and accredited occupational profile is a pre- condition to establishing proper training and competence systems to give employers and institutions sufficient security when establishing and organising engineering units and assigning tasks and competences and corresponding pay systems. The business critical dependence


of operating technical processes and systems to ensure patient, staff and visitor safety in hospitals continues to progress. At the same time the understanding of technology and the related skills of users, operators and management decreases. Without a suitably trained technical team that is well integrated into the decision making team, safe operation and economical technical business management cannot be guaranteed. The hospital technician or engineering manager is not mentioned in official European data on health professions and


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there are likely to be a number of reasons for this. With the establishment and development of technology, it has not been possible to create similar regulated structures within all hospitals. Many have different structures and organise their engineering units differently. In addition, as part of the ‘restructuring’ of recent years, a rather experimental reorganisation was conducted; without having any real basis for this kind of decision making, responsibilities have been moved and passed on. Hospitals and clinics, which often differ


in size, have also hindered the formation of uniform structures due to the different case depth, intensity and complexity of the technology required. The division of technology fields into areas such as construction, building operations and medical technology has made European standardisation almost impossible. Economists, who did their best but lacked the necessary knowledge and experience, carried out a cumbersome reconnection of these areas. There was and still is a lack of


appropriate documentation to enable the engineer to address his professional concerns and there is no lobby for it. In


addition, hospital management had no particular interest in supporting the engineering manager for a variety of reasons.


An outline of the profession Documents from engineering associations in Austria, Germany and Switzerland have made it possible to design a scheme and build a professional profile. The main components include authority and associated skills obtained via education, training and work experience. The job profile is determined on the basis of experience and includes specific activities. The description should include only relevant skills and activities and their objectives, which should reflect the essential characteristics of the profession, such as the main tasks and minimum necessary skills and behaviours. Within the same hospital categories


in European countries, there is little difference in terms of tasks and technical courses are similar. Institutional training is rarely found. The knowledge needed to work as a healthcare engineer is difficult to acquire during standard education and training. Regular studies are rarely offered in European countries resulting in the


Detlef Mostler


Detlef Mostler is a graduate of the Technical University of Graz/Austria, Department of Biomedical Engineering. His previous roles include medical technician for the province of Carinthia, Austria, chief technician in the


technical department at Klagenfurt General Hospital, lecturer in hospital facility management at the Technical University of Graz and managing director at the General Hospital Klagenfurt. He was the first president of the Federation of Austrian Hospital Engineers (OEVKT) and developed a course on medical


information technology for the Fachhochschule Technikum Kärnten. Detlef was a founding member of IFHE-Europe, of which he was chairman from 2007-2009. He is also past president of ÖVKT and a member of the co-operation team for Forum


DACH on the compilation of a professional profile for technical managers in the healthcare sector. He lectures at national and international congresses and is a member of several professional societies including the Austrian Federation of Industrial Engineers and the Society for Biomedical Technology in Austria.


IFHE DIGEST 2018


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