Health Services in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Medical Technology Acquisition Procedures effects on Health Services in Saudi Arabia MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION PROCEDURES EFFECTS ON HEALTH SERVICES IN SAUDI ARABIA GRACE SARKAR Order No. 428079 12 April 2010 MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION PROCEDURES EFFECTS ON HEALTH SERVICES IN SAUDI ARABIA Literature review No academic research has been made in depth about the challenges involving medical technology acquisition in Saudi Arabia. Basically the need in private and governmental medical institutions for updated technologies based on capital equipment strategic planning (CESP) does exist in Saudi Arabia. However, for some reason, no serious effort for CESP has been made for medical institutions in Saudi Arabia. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) which will be the main focus in this study has a population of 26,417,599 according to the Central Department of Statistics in the KSA. The economy of Saudi Arabia is based on its rich oil reserves. The Saudi government, through the public sector, plays a major role in the Kingdom's activity." (Nour, Majid). Health is a major issue in Saudi Arabia. "There are many characteristics in Saudi's culture such as religion, the tribal system, its regime and modernization. Islam plays a central role in defining this culture, acting as a major force in determining social norms, patterns, traditions, obligations, privileges and practices of society. These forces affect an individual's place in society and influences their success or failure. The Saudi government supports modernization in all aspects of life. The Saudi government imports expertise, including health care, from the world over. Government run hospitals in Saudi come under the governance of the monarch and his health care administration. John Evanoo and Debbie Cameron discuss the CESP in the United States during and after the global meltdown (Evanoo, John and Cameron, Debbie; 2010). Saudi Arabia does not face these problems. However, private as well as governmental hospitals have the same challenges about decisions on acquiring medical technology in Saudi Arabia. Deborah C Deinstadt discusses the need to have a systematic approach for asset management in medical institutions. Budget may not be a constraint for medical technology acquisition. It is the utility factor. The question is about how and when the technology will be put to use (Dienstadt, Deborah C; 2005). Medical technology apart, since Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, it is essential that people have trust in the monarchy on the availability of medical equipments when required. It is necessary to have caring medical personnel for the purpose. Medical personnel must also be qualified and experienced to handle medical technology. Citizens' attitude towards the government must be paramount in decisions for acquisition of medical technology. Rick Dana Barlow discusses the viability of medical technologies available and the prudent way of acquiring and putting to use medical technologies. Of course, this needs careful researching for which it will be necessary to engage employees who will devote their time to researching online (Barlow, Rick Dana; 2009). "The problem that often arises within countries is that there is frequently a mismatch between the current and future systems due to a gap in the physical, cultural, economic and social reasons. Technology is just one of the various socio-technical elements considered and managed in the design and implementation of successful hospital devices" (Nour, Majid). The information technology is a tremendous boost to checking and analyzing medical technology. Saudi Arabia has the potential to scrutinize and shortlist available and expected arrivals of medical technologies for use among its own people. If the medical technology is routine and based on daily requirements and not costly although voluminous, it may be sanctioned on the recommendation of the head physician after formal consultation with the hospital's managing board. Of course, this has to be ratified periodically by the managing board. For huge machines such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology either the written sanction of the head physician or the managing board may be necessary in order to requisition the purchase (The Timing of Medical Technology Acquisition, 2000). Hospital management may consist of board trustees or physicians experts in their fields. The decision to procure high-value machines may vest with board trustees or the relevant physician or physicians. However, it is crucial to use the services of clinical engineers for decisions on purchase of high-value machines. Clinical engineers are qualified to advice on whether or not to purchase new machines or manage with existing ones (Y, David and Jahnke, E.G; 2005). Acquisition of medical devices (MD) is a constant phenomenon in medical institutions. Hospitals and nursing homes cannot survive without their daily quota of medicines, syringes, bandages, plasters, and other diagnostic and prophylaxis items and equipments. The management and operating system in these hospitals must ideally have centrally monitored and computerized system that has a strategy in place for procuring the needed medical devices on a daily basis. Additionally, the data system must also have a separate window showing details such as date of purchase, cost, manufacturer's name, etc. of large machines like the MRI (Aronov, A.M et al; 2007). CESP is a critical concept in procurement of hospital equipment and devices. Its importance can be gauged from the status of well-equipped hospitals as compared to hospitals that are not properly equipped. CESP helps hospital management to decide when certain high-value medical equipment must be purchased. Hospitals continue to make use of high-value equipments even after their period of utility is over. This practice is unsafe to patients as well as the technician operating the machine (The Timing of Medical Technology Acquisition, 2000). Hence, it is critically important to have CESP in place so that no machine is found to be obsolete and crucial machines are replaced at the end of their usage with the latest model. This raises the question about new machines. When must newly invented medical devices be procured How they must be procured Must the hospital use funds from its own resources or plan for loan These questions are pertinent because hospitals must be in position to begin using these devices as soon as they are procured. Hospitals must also be careful about the source of funds for purchase of these new machines. It must not be that later when another machine has to be purchased the hospital finds itself short of resources. The best way of find out is to network with other hospitals and see how they are managing with their equipments. Such hospitals may be in the neighborhood or overseas. Neighborhood hospitals may not be very forthcoming due to competition. Nonetheless, it is important to network with different hospitals to check on the usability of new machines. The proper time to network may be before the hospital has purchased the machine. This will help the management to buy the machine at the right time (Barlow, Rick Dana; 2009). "Appropriate deployment of technological innovation contributes to improvement in the quality of healthcare delivered, the containment of cost, and access to the healthcare system. Hospitals have been allocating a significant portion of their resources to procuring and managing capital assets; they are continuously faced with demands for new medical equipment and are asked to manage existing inventory for which they are not well prepared. To objectively direct their investment, hospitals are developing medical technology management programs that need pertinent information and planning methodology for integrating new equipment into existing operations as well as for mitigating patient safety issues and costs of ownership" (David, Yadin et al; 2004). Decisions on the type of machines needed in the hospital depend on the demography of the region. Hospitals in Saudi Arabia must know the periodical, perhaps annual, occurrences of all the ailments in the region and the age group, occupation, gender, etc. of the patients. They must not only concentrate on machines used to control and heal ailments, but also on machines that improve quality of life such as machines used in ophthalmology. People always prefer large, well-equipped and well-managed hospitals knowing that they can confidently depend on these institutions on health issues (McGee, Marianne Kolbasuk; 2008). Research is the most important part of work in an existing or newly planned hospital. The time spent on evaluation and research will yield rich dividends in terms of making right decisions. Research involves time and effort. It is worth investing in research to make correct long-term decisions. We live in the information age where discoveries and inventions are happening on a daily basis. The inference is mind-boggling. One has only to search the internet and get the latest information on any topic. In such scenario, it is not difficult to search and analyze the types of machines and gadgets required in the hospital anywhere in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else in the globe. Conclusion For medical technology to be cost effective and useful, it is necessary to take time and do proper research. It depends on the size of the hospital to decide when, how and for what purpose a particular machine is needed. For large, well-resourced hospitals it is not difficult to purchase high-value, sophisticated machines. However, it is necessary for them to do proper research on their usage. Otherwise, they may purchase the machine only to find it is not being sufficiently used. For small hospitals, it is all the more necessary to do research to avoid spending scarce resource on purchase of machines that later turn out to be wrong decision. Hospitals are places where people go with high expectations of recovery. The presence of sophisticated equipment does inspire confidence. In the reassuring hands of a capable physician, the sophisticated machine can indeed become a life saving machine. Source: Aronov, A.M et al; 20 March 2007, Improvement of Organization and Economic Mechanisms for Comprehensive Provision of Equipment to Treatment-and-Prophylaxis Institutions, Volume 41, Number 4 Baba, Yuka et al; Management of Technology in a Chemical Company: Insights for R&D Effectiveness, Industry Applications, Yokohama Research Center, Japan Barlow, Rick Dana; September 2009, Capital Pains: Tech tools eclipsed by turbulent economy Volume 33, Issue 9, Healthcare Purchasing News, Proquest Brown, Assoc. Prof. Ian; 03 September 2006, Managing Medical Technology in Australia's Health Care Systems - Planning, Prioritization and Procurement, EMBS Annual International Conference, New York City, USA David, Yadin et al; 1-5 September 2004, Risk Assessment - Hospital View in Selecting Medical Technology, Proceedings of the 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, San Francisco, USA Dienstadt, Deborah C; October 2005, Asset Management: the big picture, Healthcare Financial Management, Volume 59, Issue 10 Evanoo, John and Cameron, Debbie; February 2010, The case to replace developing a sound capital equipment strategy, Volume 64, Issue 2, Proquest Frize, Monique et al; 1-4 September 2005, Survey of Clinical Engineering in Developing Countries and Model for Technology Acquisition and Diffusion, Proceedings of the 27th IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, 27th Annual Conference, Shanghai, China Lee, Peter; Kings Mill Centre, NHS Trust, LA Trobe University McGee, Marianne Kolbasuk; 03 September 2008, Insurer says Technology Acquisition to Transfer Patient Care, Information Week, http://www.informationweek.com/shar... 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