An Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits Associated with Purchasing an Anesthesia Automated Record Keeper at Wilford Hall Medical Center
Abstract
In October, 2000, under the guidance of Colonel Jay Ellis, Chief Consultant for Anesthesiology to the Air Force Surgeon General, the researcher began to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with purchasing anesthesia automated record keepers (AARKs) for Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Wilford Hall's anesthesia department was devoid of any meaningful information management system, making theft and waste possible, and making research and drug management nearly impossible. Preliminary investigation showed that the Department of Defense (DoD) had evaluated potential AARKs and had chosen to endorse the Anesthesia Information Management System (AIMS) by LifeCare Technologies, thus the focus of the study was a cost-benefit analysis of AIMS, to determine whether or not the benefits would justify the exorbitant costs of its purchase and continued utilization. The literature indicated that savings could be realized in the form of reduced costs of anesthetics, practice improvements through outcomes research, and fewer medicolegal losses. Obstacles include staff resistance and systems support and compatibility, the latter of which caused AIMS to fail at the original DoD test site, Brooke Army Medical Center. Since the DoD pays military medicolegal losses, this benefit would be realized only from the perspective of the DoD; WHMC s budget would not change. This led to evaluation from both of these perspectives. Each cost and each benefit required its own form of investigation, most notably the benefit of increased third party collections. Several of these were found to hold uncertain values, thus scenario and sensitivity analyses were performed on the five most critical elements. The results of best estimates were as follows: From the WHMC perspective, the 10-year net present value (NPV)= -$82,633, with a payback period of 8.210 years; from the DoD
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 30, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA420983
Entities
People
- Jason E. Buckner
Organizations
- Academy of Health Sciences