Healthcare Technologies - Essay Example

Healthcare Technologies Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Healthcare Technologies The world is ever changing and each day dawn brings with it different ways of doing things. As the world’s elite solve old problems using new technologies commonly known as the state of art technologies, new problems and challenges crop up which warrant for different measures in order to curb the efficiently. One of areas which have seen a continuous revolution is the medical world (Investment weekly news,2012). There have been dominant problems which have continuously brought turmoil to mankind but which have over time been solved effectively through the use of new technologies and treatments (Child, 2003). For instance the implantation of the cochlea in the ear has made a great impact in the treatment of hearing problems, the use of optical/ laser technology in the surgery of eyes among many other technologies. Basically, new technologies and treatment are classified into two: breakthrough and innovation technologies or treatments. Breakthrough technologies and treatments are treatments or technologies which provide an all time solution of a problem. They are a new discovery of solving a problem. These kinds of technologies and treatment usually gain ground in practice within a short period of time. On the other hand, innovation technologies/ treatments replace an existing technology or treatment. For instance the Coronary artery stent replacing coronary artery bypasses graft and cell implants for diabetes patients (Sentry Health Mentors, 2011). The following paper will take a deep insight into health care technologies and is being done as an assignment being part of health and social care. One of the most important issues in health care technologies is the management of resources in the terms of replacement of old technologies / treatments with new technologies/ treatment. One of the crucial issues in this area is the human resources managements. More often than not, new technologies and treatments are researched and developed in research institutions which mean that only the people who are involved in the research and development have adequate knowledge of the procedures of use and administration of the new treatment which have been brought up. This means that the medical staff which includes doctors, nurses, paramedics and other support staff must be equipped with the essential of practice and procedure in order to be able to use the new technologies and inventions as per the prescribed instructions (Medical Imaging Business Week, 2012). This brings about the need to empower the human resource which in this case is the medical staff with the necessary knowledge which can be effectively done via the use of training sessions, seminars, refresher courses among other training mediums (Horlesberger, El-Nawawi , Tarek ,2009). The training should be done by competent trainers who are rich in technical knowhow of the subject at hand. Another human resource issue that arises in the adoption of new technology is the need of hiring additional staff or in other cases the laying off of others whose work has been made obsolete. As the world progresses in the technological sectors, there are more of automations which is rendering many workers jobless as many manual jobs are being done effectively by the use of machines . These issues must be effectively managed when adopting new technologies and treatments. Another issue which must be treated with a lot of concern is safety (Karl, 2012). The organization adopting the new technologies and treatments must be able to validate on the safety of the new technologies and treatments to the patients and the staff. The technology/ treatment must be emancipating from a reliable source and it must be approved by the necessary authorizing bodies which differ from country to country. As a common norm, the final stage in the development of a new technology or treatment involves the testing of the new product using the ideal conditions of use (Horlesberger, El-Nawawi , Tarek ,2009).. Volunteers may be used or at times apes which are believed to share some close features with mankind may be used. All in all, whichever the means of testing used, it must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the new technology or treatment is safe for use by humans. Another issue which comes up in the management of resources while adopting new technologies and treatments is finance management. Financial management involves the critical analysis of the financial situation of an organization and consequently comparing it with the economies of purchasing new technology or treatments. More often than not, new technologies and treatments are very expensive at their initial time of release into the market (Pier, 2010). As time progresses, they become cheaper hence many more people being able to get them. As much as medical organizations are concerned with the healthy well being of humans, a priority must be accorded to the need to remain efficient in the market. Efficiency in this context refers to the effective delivery of services to patients (WHO, 2012). If an organization does not take financial considerations while acquiring new technologies and treatments which are expensive I nature, it may find itself in a state of financial obsolescence which will ultimately have adverse effects on the organization. In order to be able to counter this problem effectively, an organization must have the capacity to evaluate the importance of a new technology/ treatment and the possible returns which it is due to bring to the organization within a given period of time. The organization may source for funds from any of the avenues which it deems best as per its current state of finances. All along, t it must be borne in mind that the financial resource is very important to an organization since it dictates the kind of service delivery and since medical organizations deal with human life, the quality of the medical services should uphold the esteemed human life. Another resource management issue which crops up in the replacement of old technologies and treatments with new one is the space resource. In both cases, new space is needed to accommodate the new machinery which comes with the new technology in the case that it needs new infrastructure for instance a special room for use of radioactive technologies, a dark room for use of optical technologies. On the other hand, special rooms or spaces may be required for new treatments for instance use of radiations to treat different types of cancers. In the event of replacing old technologies and treatments with new ones, a lot of consideration must be made on the space and operation conditions which are required by the new technologies and treatments and consequently providing them in order to attain maximum results. One of the most effective measures which many medical engineers put into practice is the use of layout models. Layout models outline where and what will be where. Precisely, layout model gives a visual expression of what the final arrangement of the machinery will be. Its aids the medics and the engineers to make use of the available space optimally. Wrapping up on the issue of management of resources in the adoption of new technologies and treatments, it must be acknowledged that no problem sis similar to each other. Depending on all the factors which affect different organizations, it is important to have an exhaustive analysis of the situation at hand and consequently develop measure which will be able to solve the problems or issues effectively (WHO, 2012). The above issues are just but the fundamental issues which affect the management of resources in the technology changeover. However, other issues may come up depending on the internal and external factors affecting an organization. Therefore, Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) must be done on each move in order to be able to make informed decisions. If I were the manger of a health service, I would manage the financial / funding aspects of the implementation of a breakthrough technology / treatment in the following way: first of all I would set the budget for the replacement move. The budget consists of all the costs which include both fixed and variable costs. In so doing all the estimated expenses of the project will be taken into account and therefore given the required amount of money allocation in order to ensure that they are run smoothly. Making a budget is not as easy as it may sound but it entails the consideration of various experts in the various fields which are needed in the specific new technology/ treatment acquisition. This ensures the budget comes up with realistic figures which will enable good financial planning. The budget goes hand in hand with the project plan. All the details in the project plan “new technology / treatment acquisition” must have a corresponding budgetary allocation (Zultner,1999).. Care should be taken when allocation funds to overlapping activities so as to ensure that an activity is not over funder or underfunded. The second step which I would take as a manger is to designate a certain amount of money as a backup sum which I would use to fund un foreseen financial constraints. It is common knowledge in any project especially like this one which involves technology that financial short coming are due to happen or things may turn up as they were not expected. This makes the need to set up a back up fund very important. The third thing which I would do is to evaluate the financial status of the organization and establish as to whether the organization is in a capacity to support the high financial demands which come with the acquisition of new technology and treatments. This will enable me to establish as to whether the organization will fund the project solely or will make use of external sourcing of funds from reliable sources Zultner,1999). The terms of borrowing the loan or financial aid must not put the organization at a risk of facing any financial constraints in the future for instance bad repayment terms. The fourth thing which I would do is to establish a mechanism of auditing the efficiency of the project’s use of the finances which are has been allocated to it. The efficiency of the project will be determined by its ability to stay within the budget allocations and the time allocations which have been given to it. In order to ensure that this is possible, there must be a good means of tracking the finances of the project (Zultner,1999). A weekly tracking of the funds may prove very effective as this allows for monitoring of the project within a short duration of time hence being able to continuously manage the finances of the project. Minor expenses of the project should be catered for in the pretty cash book which should be reimbursed weekly. Another step which is very important in financial management in the case of acquiring a new technology or treatment is realignment. Realignment comes in handy when the project is consuming more money beyond its budgetary allocation. Realignment ensures that the project stays within the budget, and it involves using any of the three steps prescribed below: re forecasting the expenses of the project and drafting a new budget hence sourcing for additional funds. The second step is to reduce costs which involved trying to find alternative ways of doing a certain task but getting the same end results. This ensures that the organization spends less on the project. The third step involves using the backup funds so as to service the rise in budgetary demands. The last aspect which I would certainly employ is effective cash flow management. Effective cash flow management involves the management of funds in a manner that money is available at the time when it is needed. More often than not, bureaucracies have a very bad effect on cash flow management. Cutting short on them ensures that the project is able to get a stable supply of funds at the time when it is needed. A financial plan which indicates how much is needed when will go along way into ensuring that this is made possible (Zultner,1999). Another aspect of management comes in the management of the substitution of a new treatment or technology with a new one. The first thing to consider is obsolescence. Obsolescence is the of a technology or treatment being passed by time in that it does not posse the necessary characteristics or factors which are desired of it at a specific time. For instance in the treatment of most viral diseases, the medications and treatments inn use usually lose their relevance in time as the viruses mutate into new forms. In order to be able to cater for this problem of obsolescence, an organization must adopt new technologies and treatments as soon as possible so that it ensures that the sole objective of offering quality medical care is upheld (Carlisse, 2012). Therefore, one of the factors to consider while acquiring a new treatment or technology is evaluation of obsolescence. If a treatment or technology is no longer relevant, then it must be substituted abruptly. Another aspect which should be considered in substituting an old technology with a new one is finances. As pointed out earlier, new technologies and treatments are usually very expensive hence imposing a heavy financial burden on the organization’s which wish to acquire them. In such an event, effective financial management is m important in ensuring that an organization does not suffer financially following the move. A good financial analysis entails the evaluation of an organization’s current financial state which verifies if it is in a position to bear the heavy financial demands demanded of it. Another aspect which I would consider is the safety of the new treatment or technology. Safety ensures that the new acquisition does not cause any harm to its users but instead improves service delivery in terms of time and quality. As an added objective, new technologies and treatments are meant to offer a better way of treating an ailment efficiently. If on doing so it causes harm to its subjects and users, then it is not a good technology / treatment to adopt. The other aspect which I would take into consideration is the expected reliability of the technology. Reliability is the likelihood of the technology to operate efficiently without failing. If the reliability of the technology is low, then it is not a good technology to adopt bearing in mind that its failure in operation may cause fatal damages to the patients or the users. Lastly, I would evaluate the relevance of the technology to the problems and challenges facing the organization. If the organization is due to benefit from a new treatment or technology, taking into consideration the challenges facing the service delivery in the organization, it would surely make sense to adopt a treatment/ technology which best solves the challenges. There lie several advantages of using the financial management plan which indicated above. The management strategy lies heavily on the budgetary type of financial management. The advantages of using a budget are: a budget provides a mechanism of a allocating enough funds to each and every activity are given enough funds. A budget in this sense gives the management an opportunity to visualize all the expenses which the project is likely to incurs and consequently allocating enough funds to all of them. A budget also enables the management to monitor and control the financial operations of an organization. A budget also gives the employees a vague picture of the direction which the organization is heading to hence motivating the employees in the process. A budget also provides a basis on which delegation of duties can be done effectively (Zultner,1999). Budgets are not all convenient as they may seem but they also do posses some disadvantages which include the following: budgeting involves dedicating a lot of time. This means that time which would have been used for other production is consumed by the budgeting activities. At certain times, there arises the need to employ the use of outside expertise such as auditors and economist which imposes an extra burden on the organization. Another problem associated with budgets is errors which are due to happen even in the complex of budgets. Fluctuations in vital factors of production such as the cost of transportation, power and energy are due to cause a big error on the budget. Budgeting involves the allocation of funds to different departments which are headed by different people who may at times feel as if they are not considered well in the allocation of the funds. In the replacement of old technologies and treatments, there are several sources of funding. One source of funding is from an organizations account. This is possible if the organization is financially stable. Another source of money may be borrowing. The loan borrowed may be interest free e.g. from nonprofit organization or may be interest rated e.g. from financial institutions. Another source of funds may be donations and grants from charitable organizations, government, nongovernmental organizations or the company supplying the new technologies and treatments. Another way to source for funding is disinvestment where the organization opts to reduce the worth of capital in the economy by failing to replace obsolete technologies, machineries and treatments. This triggers the government to change its policies and terms and in the process making it easier for the organization to acquire the expensive new technologies and treatments. Disinvestment is hard to undertake due to the large number of medical players in the market. Due to the competitiveness nature of the market, it is hard for all of them to reach to a combined decision which makes it not effective when a few numbers of players disinvest since the rest are forging forward towards acquiring the new technologies and treatments. In conclusion, it must be acknowledged that developments in new technologies and treatments hold the key towards solving the many medical challenges that the world faces today. The technologies and treatments will be developed successfully if there is a concerted effort by all the players in the market which include the researchers, medical institutions and the government. Technology in healthcare is undoubtedly a major accompaniment of quality medical service delivery and its use must be encouraged in each and every health care institution (Hospital Law Weekly, 2012). Replacing the old technologies and treatments with new ones is a complex process which calls for vast managerial skills from the management of a medical institution. Therefore, all these factors should be taken into consideration so as to ensure that sustainable healthcare technology is put in place hence ensuring that maximum benefits are reaped from it. References Carlisse D (2012). Not Just an IT Project, Nursing Standard, 26 (30); 20-22 Child, J. (2003) New Technological Developments In Management Organization, University Of Aston Viewed On 7th July Hospital Law Weekly (2012) Electronic Medical Records; Lantium HealthTech Partners Expands Partner Network, Launches New Web Site, 52 Horlesberger, M, El-Nawawi M, Tarek K (2009). Challenges In The Management Of New Technologies, Management Of Technology, 1(5), 45-62 Investment weekly news (2012) Diagnostic Imaging; Diagnostic Imaging Services Embraces IDS's Hybrid Reporting Solutions,309 Karl W (2012). 21 Project Management Success Tips, Project Smart, 45 (1); 22-35 Medical Imaging Business Week, (2012). Telemedicine; ATA 2012: The Year's Biggest Telemedicine, Telehealth & Health Event, 66 PR Newswire (2012). Landacorp to Host Exclusive Analyst, Consultant Event at AHIP's Institute 2012; The Art of Thinking BIG will feature technology as a collaborative healthcare strategy,12-23 Pier A (2010). Technology Management, Encyclopedia For Business, 2nd Ed. Sentry Health Mentors (2011). Advances In Diabetes, Viewed On 7th July 2012, < Http://Www.Lifeclinic.Com/Focus/Diabetes/Advances.Asp> WHO, (2012). Medical Devices , Viewed On 7th July Http://Www.Who.Int/Mediacentre/Factsheets/Fs346/En/Index.Html WHO, (2012). Medical Devices : Managing The Mismatch Viewed On 7th July < Http://Www.Who.Int/Medical_Devices/En/> Wiegers, Karl E. Creating A Software Engineering Culture. New York: Dorset House Publishing, 1996. Zultner, R (1999). "Project Estimation With Critical Chain: Third-Generation Risk Management," Cutter It Journal, 12, (7) : 4-12. Read More

Another issue which must be treated with a lot of concern is safety (Karl, 2012). The organization adopting the new technologies and treatments must be able to validate on the safety of the new technologies and treatments to the patients and the staff. The technology/ treatment must be emancipating from a reliable source and it must be approved by the necessary authorizing bodies which differ from country to country. As a common norm, the final stage in the development of a new technology or treatment involves the testing of the new product using the ideal conditions of use (Horlesberger, El-Nawawi , Tarek ,2009).. Volunteers may be used or at times apes which are believed to share some close features with mankind may be used.

All in all, whichever the means of testing used, it must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the new technology or treatment is safe for use by humans. Another issue which comes up in the management of resources while adopting new technologies and treatments is finance management. Financial management involves the critical analysis of the financial situation of an organization and consequently comparing it with the economies of purchasing new technology or treatments. More often than not, new technologies and treatments are very expensive at their initial time of release into the market (Pier, 2010).

As time progresses, they become cheaper hence many more people being able to get them. As much as medical organizations are concerned with the healthy well being of humans, a priority must be accorded to the need to remain efficient in the market. Efficiency in this context refers to the effective delivery of services to patients (WHO, 2012). If an organization does not take financial considerations while acquiring new technologies and treatments which are expensive I nature, it may find itself in a state of financial obsolescence which will ultimately have adverse effects on the organization.

In order to be able to counter this problem effectively, an organization must have the capacity to evaluate the importance of a new technology/ treatment and the possible returns which it is due to bring to the organization within a given period of time. The organization may source for funds from any of the avenues which it deems best as per its current state of finances. All along, t it must be borne in mind that the financial resource is very important to an organization since it dictates the kind of service delivery and since medical organizations deal with human life, the quality of the medical services should uphold the esteemed human life.

Another resource management issue which crops up in the replacement of old technologies and treatments with new one is the space resource. In both cases, new space is needed to accommodate the new machinery which comes with the new technology in the case that it needs new infrastructure for instance a special room for use of radioactive technologies, a dark room for use of optical technologies. On the other hand, special rooms or spaces may be required for new treatments for instance use of radiations to treat different types of cancers.

In the event of replacing old technologies and treatments with new ones, a lot of consideration must be made on the space and operation conditions which are required by the new technologies and treatments and consequently providing them in order to attain maximum results. One of the most effective measures which many medical engineers put into practice is the use of layout models. Layout models outline where and what will be where. Precisely, layout model gives a visual expression of what the final arrangement of the machinery will be.

Its aids the medics and the engineers to make use of the available space optimally. Wrapping up on the issue of management of resources in the adoption of new technologies and treatments, it must be acknowledged that no problem sis similar to each other. Depending on all the factors which affect different organizations, it is important to have an exhaustive analysis of the situation at hand and consequently develop measure which will be able to solve the problems or issues effectively (WHO, 2012).

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