Acquiring and Implementing High-Cost and Complex Imaging Modalities

Abstract

Large medical centers go through an extensive process for several key service departments to acquire imaging modalities. One such project involved the evaluation, planning, implementation, and go-live of a new mobile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for a newly built outpatient clinic. My role in this project was to lead the full procurement and installation process of the mobile MRI. The customer for this project was the radiology service at the new outpatient clinic. The radiology staff hopes to use the new mobile MRI to increase their overall patient caseload over the next several years and provide a much-needed service to a highly populated patient area. This should increase overall patient satisfaction while decreasing community-of-care costs for the hospital. The technology of an MRI is quite complicated, which made the acquisition of one that would meet the needs of the clinical staff that are more imperative for the biomedical engineering department to handle. The overall timeline for this project was about year and a half, and it had been planned extensively while also dealing with a few obstacles along the way. The technology assessment and procurement phases of this project brought new levels of education on the technology and the intense process that the medical center goes through to acquire imaging modalities. The medical center is currently waiting on the final vendor selection to proceed with the implementation of the mobile MRI. In the meantime, leading a separate fixed MRI replacement project at another outpatient facility has prepared me well for the mobile MRI project. Some of the challenges faced during this project included managing a team of different stakeholders, dealing with timeline issues, and understanding the different processes and procedures to accomplish certain tasks. The biggest learning opportunity was leading and managing both the procurement of the modality and its eventual installation. This project looks to improve the patient care and safety of the unique patient population at the new outpatient center.