Introduction
To reduce human suffering as a result of diseases and complications brought about by the current nature of the health system, this organization has come up with a capital project. The project is about radiology telemedicine and is expected to go a long way in reducing challenges faced by patients undergoing radiotherapy and radiodiagnosis. It will also benefit students in the various educational institutions. Enough research has been conducted regarding this project and we strongly believe that the project is viable as a business model. This capital project will be of great benefit to health providers, patients and educational institutions.
Background
“The rapid technological advancement”, especially in telecommunication has provided the health sector with new opportunities to ensure quality and timely service for patients (Green, 1995). Many hospitals have been able to synchronize their operations in different localities as a result of technology. This has been facilitated by “telemedicine” (Pagana, 1998). Telemedicine is defined telemedicine as “the use of medical information transferred from one place to another via electronic communication for the health and education of the patient or healthcare provider and to improve patient management” (Pagana, 1998). Though telemedicine has been with us for a long time its use in radiology medicine has remained low. “Medical radiology, especially as applied to diagnosis, gives results in form of images and videos which are displayed on a computer monitor or printed out on paper” (Pagana, 1998). If these images and videos are to be shared between hospitals or send directly to the patient, this will surely lead to better management, treatment, access and reduction of costs to the patients. In our endeavor as health workers, to give the best to alleviate human suffering we have come up with the idea of radiology Telemedicine.
The project
The project basically entails the use of telemedicine to exchange clinical radiological information between radiology departments of different hospitals. And with specific patients who are seeking medical radiology services. The information is to be relayed in form of images and videos by use of bandwidths. We also intend to exchange information and videos during radiology imaging procedures and diagnosis. This service will provide a solution for; immobilized patients, patients, and the general public who are seeking consultation services from radiologists, hospitals in rural areas which are ill-equipped and require services from equipped facilities. We have consulted with several hospitals and patients and there is a ready market for radiology telemedicine.
“The project is to be implemented in a three-year plan”, by the end of which it is projected that it will have about 100,000 people including 60,000 patients, 1200 educational institutions and 1500 hospitals to the network (Mugenda, 1999). The activities include: equipping all radiology departments in hospitals with communication equipment, acquiring modern radiological equipment for strategically located hospitals, establishing a suitable bandwidth network to link the hospitals for efficient information transfer and developing a suitable billing system for the services offered. The project is, to begin with 300 hospitals, 150 educational institutions and 10,000 patients. The “billing system” to be developed will charge patients and hospitals for services offered (Champy, 1995). The charges will be based on the kind of service offered and the details are shown in the chart below:
Table 1: telemedicine services and projected revenue
The total revenue per year is estimated to be $102,990,000 from the initial clients; 300 hospitals, 150 educational institutions and 10,000 patients.
Table 2: Budget
The project is estimated to grow at a rate of 10 percent per year, in this view it is projected that the revenues will grow by the same margin. In the initial year the revenue is estimated to be $102,990,000 in this will increase by 10% in the following year.
Break-even analysis
The cost of the project is $161,225,000. Estimated revenue for year 1 is $102,990,000. The revenue is projected to increase by 10% in the following year so the revenue for year 2 is estimated to be $113289000
From the above analysis the payback period for the capital radiology telemedicine project is two years.
Discussion
The project will be carried out in one year. The first month will be devoted to acquiring the required equipment. In the subsequent two months, the equipment will be distributed to various stations and installed. In the following five months, the logistical framework and installation of communication equipment will be done. After linking all the stations and customers the project will be rolled out in three months.
Should the project be a success, then there are wide-ranging benefits to the patients who require radiology services which include: saving of transportation costs, sharing of critical patient information between hospitals, making efficient use of the few available radiologists, providing adequate care to patients who are away, tacking the issue of poverty by enabling patients from underprivileged areas to access quality care.
Conclusion
Given all the above-discussed information, it’s evident that this project is indeed viable. Your support towards the achievement of the project will be highly appreciated.
Reference list
Champy, J. (1995). Rengineering Management: the mandate for leadership. Great Britain: Harper collins publishers.
Green, E. H. (1985). Planning and development. London: Macmillan publishers.
Mugenda, O. M. (1999). Research Methods. Nairobi: Acts Press.
Pagana, K. (1998). Manual for Diagnostic Tests. Missouri: Mosby.