Managing Medical Technology in Australia's Health Care Systems - Planning, Prioritisation and Procurement

Abstract

The management of medical technology raises a range of complex issues including those associated with planning, prioritisation, and procurement. In Australia there is a significant and developing interest at National, State, and Hospital levels in issues relating to the effective management of medical technology, with drivers including service planning & cost management, access & equity, and factors associated with the ongoing use of old equipment. Surveys undertaken by the authors and reported elsewhere have now been used to develop a 5 year equipment replacement and procurement model to predict required funding levels. Survey data is also used to assist in the prioritisation of equipment and to identify centralised purchasing opportunities. The data also provides metrics to record the effectiveness of funding programs.

Multi-criteria decision analysis for supporting the selection of medical devices under uncertainty

“…Work to formalise the process of controlling MDs is underway (Cruz, Haugan, & Rincon, 2014;Grennan, 2014;Pecchia et al, 2013). MDs' methods of purchase stand out significantly in the set of controlling tasks (Brown, Smale, & Wong, 2006). Methodological recommendations (Angelo, 2009) describe a range of organisational and technical questions that must be answered by DMs at the equipment-selection stage.…”