Methods developed by the clinical engineering community and the principles outlined by ISO regulations for the application of risk management to medical devices were integrated to provide a basis for the unique optimization system implemented into the University Health Network medical device maintenance program. Device maintenance history data stored in the database is used to conduct a risk analysis and to compute predefined benchmarks to highlight groups of equipment for which the current maintenance regime is not optimal. Using a software data research tool we are able to investigate device history data and support alterations in maintenance intervals, user training, maintenance procedures, and/or device purchasing. These alterations are justified, documented, and monitored for risk in a continuous management cycle. The predicted benefits are an overall improvement in the reliability of the devices maintained, coupled with a drop in repetitive device checks that result in no measurable benefits.