Decisions to adopt new technologies at the hospital level: insights from Israeli medical centers

OBJECTIVES: New medical technologies have been identified as the leading cause of increasing health-care expenditures. Adoption of a new technology is one of the most important decisions in medical centers. The objectives of this study were to map and describe the function of hospital decision-makers within the area of new technology assessment and adoption, and to examine relevant considerations, sources of information, and decision-making processes in the adoption of a new technology. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to hospital executives and referred to (i) the considerations for and against adoption of a new technology, (ii) the decision-making process, (iii) information sources used in the decision-making process. RESULTS: The most frequent criteria favoring adoption included increased cost-effectiveness, increased efficacy, and decrease in complication rates. An increase in complication rates or side effects and decreased efficacy were the top ranked criteria against adoption. The final decision-making responsibility varied among technologies; the medical director frequently made the final decision when a new device was involved, but this responsibility decreased when a new drug or a new procedure was considered, Participation in scientific meetings, opinions of local experts, medical journals, and Food and Drug Administration clearance documents were the most important information sources used in the decision-making process. However, these were not necessarily the optimal sources of information. Significant barriers in adoption decision-making are lack of timely data regarding the safety of the new technology, its cost-effectiveness, and efficacy. CONCLUSION: To improve the adoption decisions, hospitals must develop criteria upon which the decision-making will be based.     

The determinants of medical technology adoption in different decisional systems: A systematic literature review

Studies of determinants of adoption of new medical technology have failed to coalesce into coherent knowledge. A flaw obscuring strong patterns may be a common habit of treating a wide range of health care innovations as a generic technology. We postulate three decisional systems that apply to different medical technologies with distinctive expertise, interest, and authority: medical-individualistic, fiscal-managerial, and strategic-institutional decisional systems. This review aims to examine the determinants of the adoption of medical technologies based on the corresponding decision-making system. We included quantitative and qualitative studies that analyzed factors facilitating or inhibiting the adoption of medical technologies. In total, 65 studies published between 1974 and 2014 met our inclusion criteria. These studies contained 688 occurrences of variables that were used to examine the adoption decisions, and we subsequently condensed these variables to 62 determinants in four main categories: organizational, individual, environmental, and innovation-related. The determinants and their empirical association with adoption were grouped and analyzed by the three decision-making systems. Although we did not identify substantial differences across the decision-making systems in terms of the direction of the determinants’ influence on adoption, a clear pattern emerged in terms of the categories of determinants that were targeted in different decision-making systems.     

The timing of medical technology acquisition: strategic decision making in turbulent environments

Healthcare decision makers and researchers have long been interested in the factors behind medical technology acquisition. The rate of environmental change in recent years has dramatically affected technology acquisition decision making in acute care hospitals. This study examines the relative role of decision-maker influence and environmental factors on the timing of MRI acquisition in hospitals operating in three western states with different levels of environmental uncertainty. The results suggest that the relative influence of decision makers and environmental factors on innovation acquisition timing varies depending on environmental turbulence, and that hospitals acquire new technology as one way of controlling the turbulence in their environments.     

医务人员对新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统的认知——基于上海和甘肃的需求调查

目的:了解东西部两省(市)公立医院医务人员对新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统的认识与需求,为创建我国新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统提供参考。方法:采用方便抽样选取上海和甘肃的10家公立综合性医院,采用自制调查表进行匿名调查。结果:本次调查实际回收有效问卷837份。59.95%的医务人员认为很有必要建立我国新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统,91.53%的医务人员表示建立后会使用。医务人员认为有效的新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统最重要的功能是"能识别重要的革新技术"和"能为技术的引入/分配/使用等决策提供参考",最重要的特征是"有临床与技术类专家参与"和"保持独立公正,不受商业利益影响"。结论:医务人员对新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统有较大需求,期望新兴医疗技术水平扫描系统能够及时有效地识别新技术,为决策者提供参考。     

Factors affecting decisions to adopt medical technologies in acute care hospitals

The results of this research have added an expanded perspective on the decision to adopt particular technologies. The perception had been that, given the current state of health care reimbursement, decisions to acquire radical and often expensive devices will center around economic or strategic considerations. However, it was discovered that technology acquisition appeared to be a physician centered activity with less consideration given to strategic or economic factors. While these data suggest that hospitals have not been listening to complaints about rising health care costs and continue to operate in a "business as usual" manner, it may because physicians continue to be the dominant players in what is for them an unrestrained free market. This trend, if continued, may ultimately lead to a reimposition of heavy handed government regulation in the adoption of even the most routine medical technology. As a result, it is vital that health care administrators begin to explore ways for moving from physician centered and tactical considerations to a more strategic focus which builds upon the needs and interests of the medical staff to serve the community in a more responsible fashion before that ability is taken away from them.     

The impact of the UK NHS purchaser-provider split on the 'rational' introduction of new medical technologies

This article uses evidence from case studies of the introduction of three new medical technologies to explore the impact of the UK NHS purchaser--provider split on the diffusion of new medical technologies. A desirable policy objective is assumed to be the 'rational' diffusion of medical technologies according to evidence that they are clinically and cost effective. Theoretical mechanisms are identified through which diffusion could be controlled, and the case studies are used to explore the extent to which rational technology diffusion occurs in practice in the NHS. They illustrate the influence of purchasers and providers on the introduction and early use of new technologies and explore the extent to which research about clinical and cost effectiveness is used to inform decisions about technology adoption. The results demonstrate the limited influence of purchasers and the short term clinical and organisational objectives pursued by providers in relation to technology adoption. It is suggested that initiatives to promote rational technology diffusion might be most effective if they are focused on decision making in providers, and if they aim to balance the influence on decisions of administrative and financial information about the technologies with more systematic use of research about clinical and cost effectiveness.     

Cost-effectiveness analysis in relation to budgetary constraints and reallocative restrictions

BACKGROUND: Present cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) provide not all information necessary for decision-making. One of the factors that hamper decision-making is the difficulty in reallocating resources to new technologies. In a CEA, the incremental costs and incremental benefits of a new technology are calculated. In this article we focus on the incremental cost side. The underlying assumption in socio-economic evaluation is that resources from the substituted alternatives can be used to finance the new technology. In practice, however, not all resources are becoming available to introduce the alternative. The budgets in health care are rather fixed and shifting from one alternative to another or from one sector to another is often impossible. Even within a budget, the personnel and material resources are usually not entirely usable for the new technology, and sometimes not at all. Therefore, the present CEA outcomes might overestimate the cost-effectiveness in practice, which might influence implementation of a new technology. AIM: To optimise the usefulness of economic evaluation for health care decision-making by correcting the incremental costs of a new technology for the possible limitations in reallocating resources and adjusting budgets in health care. METHODS: Case Research. Literature, data from two completed CEAs and interviews with decision makers in the hospital setting. RESULTS: Case 1: The combined outpatient and home-treatment of psoriasis--In a CEA it was calculated that the new technology lead to much lower cost, given the same effects. The direct costs of this technology comprise personnel, material and capacity costs. Personnel and capacity are inflexible with regard to reallocation, at least in the short term. Considering these reallocative restrictions results show that the cost-savings of the combined treatment are in the short run significantly smaller than in the long run: 694 versus 6.058, respectively. Therefore, the anticipated savings, estimated are not realistic for decision makers with a short time horizon. The short-term savings amount to only 11% of the anticipated savings in the long run. Nevertheless, the combined treatment remains a cost-effective treatment. Analysing the budgetary constraints resulted in the finding that the substitution of the in-hospital treatment by the combined treatment has taken place without negative financial consequences for the hospital. Case 2: The ground bound mobile medical team--Economic arguments to implement the ground bound mobile medical team (MMT) are undecided. With respect to the budgetary constraints we find that the budget for the trauma centre is conditional upon the deployment of the ground bound MMT. Moreover, the cost of the ground bound MMT is a relatively small part of the budget for the trauma centre and therefore no hurdle to implement. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these findings we conclude that limitations in reallocating resources and adjusting budgets in health care may hamper the usefulness of economic evaluation for decision-making. Researching the extent of these limitations provides, together with the CEA, better information on which the decision whether a new technology should be implemented and what the expected welfare gains from such an implementation might be can be made. For this a set of checklists is developed.     

Pattern and factors leading to the diffusion of magnetic resonance imaging in Korean hospitals

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the diffusion patterns of new medical technologies in Korean hospitals. We also sought to identify critical factors leading to the decision to acquire capital-intensive medical technology. The rationale and timing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisitions were retrospectively evaluated according to a "whether, when, and why" paradigm. METHODS: We analyzed data pertaining to 232 hospitals with active medical residency programs. Of these, 185 hospitals owned or leased an MRI unit, and 47 had not acquired units as of June 2004. Data were collected from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korean National Statistical Office, and Korean Hospital Association databases, and variables were identified and classified as predisposing, enabling, or reinforcing factors. RESULTS: The MRI diffusion rate curve was linear for two types of hospital but was S-shaped for tertiary hospitals, which were early adopters of MRI. Significant predictors for MRI adoption included the per capita number of regional physicians (+), total number of existing regional MRI units (-), percentage of the regional population over 65 years of age (+), private ownership of the hospital, presence of a radiology residency program, number of beds (+), and regional per capita taxable income (+). CONCLUSIONS: Diffusion of MRI technology is occurring rapidly across Korean hospitals. The factors affecting MRI adoption in Korea are similar to the factors documented in other countries, namely regional population over age 65, regional income per capita, large hospitals, and teaching hospitals. This study provides baseline information for predicting diffusion patterns of other new and/or expensive medical technologies.     

Decision making on the adoption of advanced medical technology in Taiwan.

This paper discusses both the current interest in and approaches to the employment of advanced medical technology in Taiwan. It describes the formation of the national policy, including funding, reimbursement, and regulatory processes, on adopting innovative and expensive medical technologies. Using the case of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), the key players who affect organizational decision making on the adoption and diffusion of medical technology have also been analyzed. Finally, it examines some of the salient features of medical technology adoption and assessment in Taiwan, and in other countries which depend heavily upon imported advanced medical technology. It is hoped that an understanding of Taiwan's attempts to use innovative medical technology wisely while incorporating the practice of technology assessment and appropriate policies, will assist other countries with similar conditions to gain maximal benefit from technological advancement.     

Adoption of new medical technologies: The effects of insurance coverage vs continuing medical education

Medical technologies innovate rapidly and responsively to patient needs, but the adoption of the latest technologies in practice can be delayed by lack of knowledge and ability to pay. Customized individually made (CIM) knee implants potentially provide an option for individuals to maintain moderate to high activity levels with fewer surgical revisions following a total knee replacement, however they are costlier upfront. Not only is the technology more expensive, but insurance typically covers around 50% (versus 90% for older off-the-shelf knee implants). We used a recent simulation model and analyzed the effects on overall adoption of CIM through 2026 and found that continuing medical education (CME)—a common intervention to increase the adoption of new medical technologies through increasing practitioner knowledge and comfort with the new technologies—can increase the adoption of CIM to 48% in the short term, but increasing insurance coverage to be equal to OTS knee replacement coverage increases the adoption to 87% in the sustained long term. Efforts to implement CME are well-placed and will increase the rate of adoption, however the combination of CME and increased insurance coverage provides the most benefit, with the technology reaching 80% of the population undergoing total knee replacement by 2021.     

Hospital adoption of information technologies and improved patient safety: a study of 98 hospitals in Florida

Most of the studies linking the use of information technology (IT) to improved patient safety have been conducted in academic medical centers or have focused on a single institution or IT application. Our study explored the relationship between overall IT adoption and patient safety performance across hospitals in Florida. Primary data on hospital IT adoption were combined with secondary hospital discharge data. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between measures of IT adoption and the Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. We found that eight PSIs were related to at least one measure of IT adoption. Compared with administrative IT adoption, clinical IT adoption was related to more patient safety outcome measures. Hospitals with the most sophisticated and mature IT infrastructures performed significantly better on the largest number of PSIs. Adoption of IT is associated with desirable performance on many important measures of hospital patient safety. Hospital leaders and other decision makers who are examining IT systems should consider the impact of IT on patient safety.     

Hospital adoption of medical technology: an empirical test of alternative models.

OBJECTIVE. This study examines hospital motivations to acquire new medical technology, an issue of considerable policy relevance: in this case, whether, when, and why hospitals acquire a new capital-intensive medical technology, magnetic resonance imaging equipment (MRI). STUDY DESIGN. We review three common explanations for medical technology adoption: profit maximization, technological preeminence, and clinical excellence, and incorporate them into a composite model, controlling for regulatory differences, market structures, and organizational characteristics. All four models are then tested using Cox regressions. DATA SOURCES. The study is based on an initial sample of 637 hospitals in the continental United States that owned or leased an MRI unit as of 31 December 1988, plus nonadopters. Due to missing data the final sample consisted of 507 hospitals. The data, drawn from two telephone surveys, are supplemented by the AHA Survey, census data, and industry and academic sources. PRINCIPAL FINDING. Statistically, the three individual models account for roughly comparable amounts of variance in past adoption behavior. On the basis of explanatory power and parsimony, however, the technology model is "best." Although the composite model is statistically better than any of the individual models, it does not add much more explanatory power adjusting for the number of variables added. CONCLUSIONS. The composite model identified the importance a hospital attached to being a technological leader, its clinical requirements, and the change in revenues it associated with the adoption of MRI as the major determinants of adoption behavior. We conclude that a hospital's adoption behavior is strongly linked to its strategic orientation.     

Health technology assessment for medical devices in Europe. What must be considered

OBJECTIVE: To inform about the specifics of medical devices and the resulting consequences for health technology assessment (HTA) and to present the European industry position on this topic. METHODS: The paper is based on an intensive debate within Eucomed, the European trade association in the field of medical devices, informed by an HTA Experts Group, comprising experts from within and outside the medical device industry. RESULTS: Based on the specifics of medical devices, there are a number of methodologic considerations that require a tailored HTA, differing from the approach taken for, for example, pharmaceutical products. These differences have an impact on the selection of the technology, the timing of the assessment, the study design, and the patient population. CONCLUSION: The European medical device industry can commit to an HTA that takes into consideration the specifics of medical technologies, which is appropriate and fair, and which is done under full participation of industry. Under these circumstances HTA can be a useful tool to support rational decision making in health care.     

Assessing medical technologies in development. A new paradigm of medical technology assessment

OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to provide a practical contribution to the field of medical technology assessment within a new paradigm. This paradigm indicates the need for more comprehensive technology assessments in the development stage of a new technology. METHOD: We introduce a method, based on Saaty's Analytic Hierarchy Process, which quantitatively supports discussions between the various actors that shape the technology's development and diffusion. These discussions focus on technical, medical, social, and economical requirements relevant to the design and diffusion of the new technology. DISCUSSION: In contrast to more traditional technology assessments, our method encompasses the perspectives of the diverse actors in the social context of technology development and diffusion. It influences their decision making on technology design and diffusion in order to improve this technology's later clinical as well as social effectiveness.     

Clinical use of medical devices in the 'Bermuda Triangle'

The pace of medical technological development shows no sign of abating. Analyzing the effect of major federal health agencies on the availability of such technology is critical. This paper describes functions of three government health agencies: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Certain medical technologies fall into gaps between these agencies, which pose challenges in today's era of demand for evidence-based medicine. We suggest new policy and pragmatic strategies that can close the gaps and move decision making relevant to technology forward more rapidly than is now the case.     

Electronic medical records and medical procedure choice: Evidence from cesarean sections

This paper examines how hospital adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) impacts medical procedure choice in the context of cesarean section deliveries. It provides a unique contribution by tying the literature on EMR diffusion to the literature on the utilization of expensive medical technology and provider practice style. Exploiting within‐hospital variation in three types of EMR adoption, we find that computerized physician order entry, an advanced EMR system that typically incorporates decision support, reduces C‐section rates for low‐risk mothers by 2.5%. Obstetric‐specific EMR systems and physician documentation have no statistically significant effect on C‐section rates. In addition, we find that the computerized practitioner order entry effect occurs predominantly in hospitals that were already performing fewer C‐sections and does not change the behavior of already high‐intensity providers.     

Applying research to health care policy and practice: medical and managerial views on effectiveness and the role of research

OBJECTIVES: This study explores the way in which doctors and managers think about the effectiveness of health care interventions and how this shapes the evidence they use to support decision-making. METHODS: Case studies of the introduction of three new medical technologies in nine National Health Service (NHS) hospitals and health authorities. RESULTS: Effectiveness research provides essential evidence on clinical and cost-effectiveness and is used primarily by clinicians and public health doctors for this purpose. However, research fails to provide the 'evidence' required by managerial decision-makers, whose objectives relate as much to the effect of a technology on organisational performance as on patient health and well-being. The evidence used to inform technology adoption decisions reflects the professional role and objectives of different decision-makers. CONCLUSIONS: The assumed relationship between 'research' and 'evidence' for the purpose of promoting effective health care does not take account of the wide range of objectives pursued by different health care decision-makers and the varied sources of 'evidence' they use to support their decisions.     

Decision-Oriented Health Technology Assessment: One Step Forward in Supporting the Decision-Making Process in Hospitals

ObjectivesThis article outlines the Decision-Oriented Health Technology Assessment: a new implementation of the European network for Health Technology Assessment Core Model, integrating the multicriteria decision-making analysis by using the analytic hierarchy process to introduce a standardized methodological approach as a valued and shared tool to support health care decision making within a hospital.MethodsFollowing the Core Model as guidance (European network for Health Technology Assessment. HTA core model for medical and surgical interventions. Available from: http://www.eunethta.eu/outputs/hta-core-model-medical-and-surgical-interventions-10r. [Accessed May 27, 2014]), it is possible to apply the analytic hierarchy process to break down a problem into its constituent parts and identify priorities (i.e., assigning a weight to each part) in a hierarchical structure. Thus, it quantitatively compares the importance of multiple criteria in assessing health technologies and how the alternative technologies perform in satisfying these criteria. The verbal ratings are translated into a quantitative form by using the Saaty scale (Saaty TL. Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. Int J Serv Sci 2008;1:83–98). An eigenvectors analysis is used for deriving the weights’ systems (i.e., local and global weights’ system) that reflect the importance assigned to the criteria and the priorities related to the performance of the alternative technologies.ResultsCompared with the Core Model, this methodological approach supplies a more timely as well as contextualized evidence for a specific technology, making it possible to obtain data that are more relevant and easier to interpret, and therefore more useful for decision makers to make investment choices with greater awareness.ConclusionsWe reached the conclusion that although there may be scope for improvement, this implementation is a step forward toward the goal of building a “solid bridge” between the scientific evidence and the final decision maker’s choice.     

Physicians' opinions and practices on the use of medical referrals at hospitals

This work aims to take stock of the actual utilisation of medical standards (references), through a study of opinions and practices of the medical managers working in the clinical services of a university hospital centre. A survey through interviews was proposed to 103 medical managers, 101 responded to the questionnaire (38 Unit directors and 63 directors of "UF" units). Medical standards are used essentially as a teaching aid by 80% of doctors. Some of them (48%) make them available to prescribing doctors in the unit, and for 36% there exists an informational procedure for new residents. Evaluation studies concerning the implementation of medical standards remain rare (7 studies). Medical standards appear to be more useful for improving quality of care (90%) then for controlling health expenditures (72%). The majority of medical managers (72%) consider that certain standards should be opposable to hospitals. The medical managers of the university hospital centre are in favour of developing standards of clinical practice.     

Managerial effectiveness in the NHS. A possible framework for considering the effectiveness of the clinical director

Examines managerial effectiveness in the NHS, in particular the effectiveness of the clinical director. Based on a qualitative study of an NHS Trust hospital case study, utilizes a social cognitive perspective to analyse the data and draw conclusions. Uses the data to suggest a possible framework for examining the effectiveness of individual directors. The framework may be relevant to other messages, particularly those in professional service organizations. It may also be used as a diagnostic tool to assess these managers. The framework is grounded in the perceptions of the interviewees at the Trust: both clinical directors and managers.