Dependability-based maintenance optimization in healthcare domain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review maintenance strategies within the healthcare domain and to discuss practical needs as gaps between research and practice. Design/methodology/approach The paper systematically categorizes the published literature on clinical maintenance optimization and then synthesizes it methodically. Findings This study highlights the significant issues relevant to the application of dependability analysis in healthcare maintenance, including the quantitative and qualitative criteria taken into account, data collection techniques and applied approaches to find the solution. Within each category, the gaps and further research needs have been discussed with respect to both an academic and industrial perspective. Practical implications It is worth mentioning that medical devices are becoming more and more numerous, various and complex. Although, they are often affected by environmental disturbances, sharp technological development, stochastic and uncertain nature of operations and degradation and the integrity and interoperability of the supportability system, the associated practices related to asset management and maintenance in healthcare are still lacking. Therefore, the literature review of applied based research on maintenance subject is necessary to reveal the holistic issues and interrelationships of what has been published as categorized specific topics. Originality/value The paper presents a comprehensive review that will be useful to understand the maintenance problem and solution space within the healthcare context.