What is the effectiveness measure for PMs in hospitals?

• A. Number of maintenance calls per week
• B. Percentage of preventive maintenance tasks completed on time
• C. Total maintenance cost per year
• D. Number of pieces of equipment decommissioned

Answer: (B)

Preventive maintenance effectiveness hinges on doing planned tasks when they’re scheduled. The percentage of preventive maintenance tasks completed on time directly shows whether the maintenance program is being followed, ensuring equipment is inspected, calibrated, and tested before failures occur. This readiness supports higher equipment reliability, less unplanned downtime, and safer patient care.

Other metrics measure related aspects but not effectiveness of the PM program itself: the number of maintenance calls per week reflects workload or reactive failures and can be high for poor planning rather than good preventive work; total maintenance cost gauges spending without indicating whether PM tasks were completed on schedule; and the count of equipment decommissioned concerns asset lifecycle, not adherence to preventive tasks. Therefore, on-time completion of PM tasks is the best indicator of PM effectiveness.