Justification for a New X-Ray Machine COUNTING THE TRUE COST

A New X-ray Machine in a Healthcare Organization

A New Digital X-Ray Machine for Ebrahim Haji Health Centre

The World Federation of KSIMC urgently seeks donations from members all over the world for the purchase of a new digital x-ray machine for the Ebrahim Haji Health Centre in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (COEJ, 2011). Its X-Ray Department at the health center operates six days a week and 12 hours a day. Physicians regularly use x-rays for the diagnosis of disease and injury and as an essential part of treatment. This health center is currently faced with the dilemma of a limited budget and the need for a more reliable x-ray machine. The present Fujitsu x-ray machine is 13 years old and has been malfunctioning often. Problems encountered with its use include unavailability of parts for replacement, frequent breakdown, rising cost of maintenance, and patient inconvenience when the machine malfunctions or breaks down. The number of x-ray services conducted progressively increased in the four years when the old machine worked and even when some patients had to obtain the service elsewhere. These conditions showed the need for an up-to-date and more reliable x-ray machine to meet the Center's rising demand for it. Field experts and the Center's radiologists recommended the replacement with a new Philips PCR Eleva Digital X-ray. The Central Medical Board approved it. Advantages in the use of this machine include the company agent's technical service backup and training in Tanzania, visibility...

Proper patient care is the one strong justification for the purchase of this x-ray machine (COEJ).
X-Ray Equipment Upgrade for Sonoma Valley Hospital

The present x-ray equipment is more than 25 years old and broke down this month. This prompted the hospital to ask the Sonoma Valley Health Care District for an emergency upgrade (Charrier-Botts, 2011). The repair of the present machine is not an option, as its vendor is no longer in business. The only possible technician is unavailable at this time. The hospital has two x-ray rooms meant to accommodate the imaging needs of patients. But the breakdown of one of them forces the hospital staff to put all the patients in only one of the x-ray rooms (Charrier-Botts).

If this situation persists, the hospital can lose its x-ray business, according to hospital board members (Charrier-Botts, 2011). Patients must continue to be served in two separate x-ray rooms as before. As a matter of procedure, the finance committee needs to first assess the proposal before making a recommendation to the board. But the board insists that they cannot get ahead with their operations without the equipment update (Charrier-Botts).

Digital Radiology at the UC Davis Health System

A study analyzed the workflow and costs of operations at this organization, physician satisfaction and self-recorded interactions by on-call radiology residents (Srinivasan et al., 2003). Before the use…