Tip of the week: Plan before you privilege

Some hospitals are innovators, always on the cutting edge of new technology. Other hospitals are content with letting those innovators put the new technology to the test before considering adopting it for themselves. But all hospitals should be careful in choosing which technologies to adopt. Asking yourself the following questions will help you determine which new technologies are right for your facility:

• What are the hospital's strategic clinical areas (e.g., specific surgeries, obstetrics, neurological services, etc.)?
• What does the hospital's current patient population require?
• What are the financial implications of adopting the new technology (training staff, purchasing new technology, refitting surgical suites)?
• Will procedures done with this technology be reimbursed?
• What are the implied changes to the clinical process?
• Which physician group will perform the surgery, and how will these physicians be trained and credentialed? Will more than one sub-specialty group claim the right to perform the procedure?
• What are the chances that the procedure will become common as an outpatient procedure and move to a competing surgical center or other outpatient entity?
• What are the safety implications of the new procedure?
• What are the chances that the new procedure will become the new standard of care?

The preceding information was adapted from Assessing New Procedures and Technologies: A Guide to Credentialing, Privileging, and Dispute Resolution by Jack L. Cox, MD, MMM. To learn more about new technology privileging, click here.