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HEALTH TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT


‘Health technology brings with it a revolutionary change in the health sector and health workers in Kenya need to start embracing HT and the changes it can bring.’


schedule, with list of spare parts, materials required to implement and approximate costs).


• Prioritised repair plan with costs and schedule for repairs and price of spare parts.


• Disposal plan.


Other HT management planning activities should include: • Risk management. • Quality assurance. • Technology assessment – original products vs. counterfeits, appropriate technology vs. latest technology.


• Facility designs and project management. (theatres, radiology etc).


• Equipment life-cycle cost.


We need to ask ourselves why broken medical equipment still resides in the healthcare environment? Is it due to a lack of technical skills to repair the equipment? Is there inadequate technical knowledge on HT issues? Is there a lack of technical documentation or a lack of spare parts or a lack of funds or is it due to a lack of support? Biomedical engineers need to consider


why the same problems continue to arise each year. They need to come up with innovative ideas, keeping up with technology advances and making well thought-out technological decisions. They should also seek to solve health problems through the use of the most innovative health technology by selecting technologies that are ‘appropriate’ and not always opting for the latest technology. To achieve this, it is important that biomedical engineers embrace self-study in order to improve their own knowledge in this area.


Challenging practice Random sampling of a few public hospitals in Kenya raised some issues of concern. Biomedical engineers do not yet appear to be fully integrated into the health system


here. Further concerns revolve around budgetary allocation for maintenance and investment in medical equipment/health technology. The levels of training of some biomedical


engineers has been called into question relating to their technical competence to repair equipment and provide adequate maintenance services. Some health workers have been found to


be unwilling to adopt new technology, instead preferring to continue using obsolete procedures and technology. Most health facility managers were also found not to properly understand HT issues. There is also a lack of technical documentation, inadequate testing and measuring equipment and knowledge about the use of equipment. Another issue identified in Kenya is that


of HT vendors or dealers being unwilling to sell spare parts at healthcare establishments, or selling these spare parts at exaggerated prices in an attempt to push for maintenance contracts. Another issue facing the region is that of


sabotage by HT users (grounding equipment in order to refer patients to their clinics) and of equipment vendors grounding equipment from competitor vendors in order to discredit them.


Donated second-hand equipment poses


another problem. Donated equipment is often not controlled, which can result to inappropriate equipment entering the healthcare environment, which cannot be properly installed or used by the staff. Its lifecycle stage will also be unknown, it may not be cost-effective, and its safety and performance may be unknown too, which ultimately leads to the question of whether it is actually worth having? There are many other issues facing


healthcare services in Kenya today in relation to HT. There is lack of regulation and standards, a lack of professional ethics, a lack of health policy and guidelines, inadequate technical training as well as hospital management issues. As a way forward, there is an urgent need


for policy and guidelines – both operational and managerial and relating to the donation of used medical equipment. Professional ethics and standards need to be improved, possibly through the implementation of a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) system. Also vitally important is a greater demand for good behaviour in the workplace. Training institutions need to improve on


their curriculum development and train students how to think, rather than just teaching them how to pass exams. They should also look to improve the capacity of


IFHE DIGEST 2013


their trainers and bring other professionals on-board where necessary. Auditing the performance of trainees would also be a step forward.


Conclusion HT brings with it a revolutionary change in the health sector and health workers in Kenya need to start embracing HT and the changes it can bring. Patients today are becoming increasingly more aware of their health rights and this could be considered as a threat to health workers. IT lecturers therefore need to update their own knowledge base before teaching others. For those in the HT industry who provide


technological solutions to health problems, there is a need to better understand the problems and requirements of your clients/customers (equipment users, patients and community) in different regions and to and embrace the culture of satisfying their individual needs and expectations.


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www.media.nih.gov/imagebank


www.en.wikipedia.org Frmir


www.en.wikipedia.org Mosquitopsu


www.en.wikipedia.org Rmosler2100


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