ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (MEMMS) ON USER SATISFACTION: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF JCI-ACCREDITATION

Abstract

Background: Effective medical equipment maintenance management systems (MEMMS) are necessary to ensure patient safety, operational efficiency, and adherence to international accreditation standards. The research attempted to evaluate the medical equipment maintenance management system (MEMMS), user satisfaction, and the mediating role of Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation via a multidomain questionnaire. Methods: The survey was conducted in the form of a cross-sectional survey with 146 healthcare professionals who were sampled in both accredited and non-academic hospitals. The respondents were of diverse demographics, professions, and experience. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability measures included Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE). Findings: The sample population was heterogeneous, comprising 146 healthcare professionals, selected from accredited and non-accredited hospitals. Most were men (70.5%) with ages of 25-35 (52.7%), with most of them being nurses (50.0%) or other allied employees (21.2%). Almost three-quarters (71.9%) were members of JCI-approved hospitals, and 93.2% said they were direct users of medical equipment. The hypothesized multidimensional form of the instrument was substantiated by exploratory factor analysis, and afterward, the majority of the items achieved high loading (> 0.40) on their respective domains. There was excellent internal consistency between domains (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.70-0.96), and the overall alpha = 0.99 with the composite reliability value exceeding 0.70 and average variance extracted value consistently beyond 0.50 that validates convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis also revealed excellent standardized loading (above 0.70 in most items), and construct validity. Groups of comparison showed significant differences between domains and characteristics of participants: preventive and corrective maintenance scores by years of experience (p < 0.05), domains of user satisfaction, responsiveness, reliability, and safety were also significantly different among the users in the accredited and non-accredited facilities (p < 0.05), and JCI-related domains (administration, executive, and safety) were always higher among the users of the accredited facilities. Conclusion: The validated instrument has excellent psychometric features and has provided significant relationships between MEMMS, user satisfaction, and JCI accreditation areas and demographic and institutional variables. The importance of these findings, from both a research and practical standpoint, justifies their application to improve quality assurance, accreditation readiness, and patient safety. Keywords: Medical Equipment Maintenance Management System (MEMMS), psychometric validation, reliability, validity, user satisfaction, Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation, Healthcare Quality, and Safety