Justification for a New X-Ray Machine Counting

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 of x-ray images on the doctor's computer, and the ease of sending these images to other specialists anywhere for any purpose. 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 of a picture archiving and communications system or PACS, physicians looked for films for 1-3 hours daily. They were simply dissatisfied with radiology services at the time. With the use of PACS, physicians now tend to view and interpret images themselves. This raised their satisfaction level. They now perform real-time reporting.

They viewed studies with radiologists 90% less frequently than before. Searching time of 1-3 hours has been reduced to 16 to 2 minutes, saving them 21.5 physician years, which equates to U.S.$1,034,150 annually. PACS reduced film printing by 73.4%, labor cost for a filing clerk at 50.3% less and worth $1,001,453 annually. It also relieved 1.218 hospital and 8,108 warehouse square feet of space. These combined spaces saved $2,018.320. The use of a digital radiology system increased clinician satisfaction and improved workflow. It also increased clinician image viewing and reduced the time clinicians spent with radiologists for discussion.

The implementation of this system altogether saved 21 physician years and $2 million costs yearly (Srinivasan, et al.). Justification for Innovative X-Ray Machine in a Healthcare Organization It can be a portable, low-intensity x-ray machine that can be conveniently taken from one office to another on a small cart (Christensen et al., 2000). This machine can produce images so sharp and clear that health professionals can detect tiny bone fractures or tissue lumps right in their office rather than in a hospital.

This unique machine works through a copyrighted nano-crystal process with a built-in night-vision technology copied from the military. It takes only 10% of the cost of a conventional x-ray machine. Yet it saves patients, their employers and insurance companies hundreds of thousands of dollars every year it used to replace the conventional machine. The resistance.