Claims
- 1. A method for efficiently utilizing medical imaging systems in a health care facility, said method comprising the steps of:
collecting data relating to imaging system inventory of a health care facility; collecting data relating to imaging system procedure volume and time require to perform imaging procedures; processing said inventory and utilization data utilizing a computerized relational database system to produce optimization recommendations; modifying imaging system usage and planning to improve efficiency based upon the optimization recommendations.
- 2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein processing said inventory and utilization data comprises:
determining imaging system equipment utilization at the health care facility; and comparing the calculated utilization to utilization in other health care facilities, utilizing the relational database system, to determine surpluses or shortages of imaging equipment.
- 3. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein calculating imaging system equipment utilization at the health care facility comprises using a program of the relational database system to calculate a total number of imaging systems required, a variance between a number of existing imaging systems and a number required, and a variance between a number of imaging systems in use and a number required.
- 4. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein processing said inventory and utilization data comprises using a program of the relational database system to automatically analyze demographic and disease incidence studies to determine future imaging equipment needs of the health care facility, and wherein the optimization recommendations include recommendations for future imaging equipment needs.
- 5. A method for efficiently utilizing medical imaging systems in a health care facility, said method comprising the steps of:
maintaining an inventory and utilization record of medical imaging systems of a health care facility in a relational database system; producing recommendations for future utilization and equipment needs relating to the medical imaging systems of the health care facility utilizing the relational database system; and modifying imaging system usage and planning of equipment acquisitions to improve efficiency based upon the optimization recommendations.
- 6. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein maintaining an inventory and utilization record of medical imaging systems in the health care facility comprises the steps of maintaining records relating to numbers of procedures and procedure times for each of the medical imaging systems at the health care facility.
- 7. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein producing recommendations for future utilization and equipment needs comprises using a program of the relational database system to generate comparisons of utilization and procedure times of the medical imaging systems at the health care facility to standarized utilization and procedure times.
- 8. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein producing recommendations for future utilization and equipment needs comprises using a program of the relational database system to generate comparisons of utilization and procedure times for the medical imaging systems of the health care facility to utilization and procedure times of medical imaging systems within a market served by the health care facility.
- 9. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein producing recommendations for future utilization and equipment needs comprises identifying a need to scrap or replace existing medical imaging equipment.
- 10. A method in accordance with claim 9 wherein the recommendations are produced utilizing accreditation standards, obsolescence data, and service history.
- 11. A method in accordance with claim 9 wherein producing recommendations for future utilization and equipment needs further comprises identifying medical imaging equipment as either having excess or constrained capacity, depending upon a percentage utilization of the medical imaging equipment.
- 12. A method in accordance with claim 11 wherein producing recommendations for future utilization and equipment needs comprises comparing operations of the health care facility to benchmark data utilizing the relational database system.
- 13. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the recommendations include recommendations to change operating hours.
- 14. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein further comprising maintaining an inventory and utilization record of medical imaging systems of a plurality of health care facilities in the relational database system.
- 15. A method in accordance with claim 5 and further comprising generating, utilizing the relational database system, reports of medical imaging system capacity utilization by modality and basis.
- 16. A method in accordance with claim 15 and further comprising generating, utilizing the relational database system, reports of medical imaging system installed base age and installed base technology condition.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/848,108, filed Apr. 28, 1997, entitled “Methods and Systems for Asset Management,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0002] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08848108 |
Apr 1997 |
US |
Child |
09435551 |
Nov 1999 |
US |