Reengineering the biomedical-equipment procurement process through an integrated management information system.

The design of each new hospital site is typically preceded by decisions on the most appropriate level of biomedical equipment which significantly influences the layout of the hospital departments which are under construction. The most appropriate biomedical equipment should ideally be decided upon considering a series of demographic and social parameters of the hospital and international regulations and standards. This information should ultimately be distilled to proper technical specifications. This paper proposes a streamlined management process related to the procurement of biomedical equipment for new hospital sites or for those under expansion. The new management process aims to increase the efficiency of the experts involved in the definition of the most appropriate level of equipment and its technical specifications. It also addresses all aspects of the biomedical equipment-selection cycle, including the evaluation of the bids submitted by the equipment suppliers. The proposed process is assisted by a management information system, which integrates all related data-handling operations. It provides extensive decision-support facilities to the expert and a platform for the support of knowledge re-use in the field of biomedical-equipment selection.