Technical needs assessment: UWMC's sensitivity analysis guides decision-making

In today's healthcare market, it is critical for provider institutions to offer the latest and best technological services while remaining fiscally sound. In academic practices, like the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC), there are the added responsibilities of teaching and research that require a high-tech environment to thrive. These conditions and needs require extensive analysis of not only what equipment to buy, but also when and how it should be acquired. In an organization like the UWMC, which has strategically positioned itself for growth, it is useful to build a sensitivity analysis based on the strategic plan. A common forecasting tool, the sensitivity analysis lays out existing and projected business operations with volume assumptions displayed in layers. Each layer of current and projected activity is plotted over time and placed against a background depicting the capacity of the key modality. Key elements of a sensitivity analysis include necessity, economic assessment, performance, compatibility, reliability, service and training. There are two major triggers that cause us to consider the purchase of new imaging equipment and that determine how to evaluate the equipment we buy. One trigger revolves around our ability to serve patients by seeing them on a timely basis. If we find a significant gap between demand and our capacity to meet it, or anticipate a greater increased demand based upon trends, we begin to consider enhancing that capacity. A second trigger is the release of a breakthrough or substantially improved technology that will clearly have a positive impact on clinical efficacy and efficiency, thereby benefiting the patient. Especially in radiology departments, where many technologies require large expenditures, it is no longer acceptable simply to spend on new and improved technologies. It is necessary to justify them as a strong investment in clinical management and efficacy. There is pressure to provide "proof" at the department level and beyond. By applying sensitivity analysis and other forecasting methods, we are able to spend our resources judiciously in order to get the equipment we need when we need it. This helps ensure that we have efficacious, efficient systems--and enough of them--so that our patients are examined on a timely basis and our clinics run smoothly. It also goes a long way toward making certain that the best equipment is available to our clinicians, researchers, students and patients alike.