Optimizing Imaging Systems for Multiple Procedures, Part 4: Improved Hospital Profitability

This is Part 4 in a 5-part series about optimizing multi-procedure imaging systems. Part 1 offered an overview of benefits. Part 2 detailed how these systems enhance the patient experience. Part 3 showed how they increase staff efficiency. In Part 4, we’ll discuss how they boost hospital profits.

Optimizing imaging systems for multiple procedures enhances the patient experience, drives better medical outcomes, and increases staff efficiency. Multi-procedure imaging systems can also help hospitals maximize ROI.

1. Get more out of a fixed cost

Hospitals need state-of-the-art imaging systems to provide high-quality patient care, but these systems often represent multi-million-dollar investments – fixed costs hospitals incur no matter how much they use them.

Multi-procedure imaging systems help hospitals get the most use out of those fixed costs. When equipment goes unused, hospitals lose money. When equipment is used, hospitals make money.

2. Rooms do not sit idle

Multi-procedure imaging suites can handle overflow from other departments, eliminating wasted space and investment.

For example, hospitals might shift cancer biopsies from an overwhelmed interventional radiology department to an underutilized cath lab. Rather than allow the cath lab to sit empty, the hospital can accommodate more patients and earn more revenue.

3. Combine service lines

Hospitals can combine two or more service lines in an imaging suite, maximizing usage. Combined service lines save money because hospitals only need to purchase accessories, attachments and positioning aids for one suite since needed supplies often overlap.

Moreover, with the right accessories, hospitals don’t need to buy supplies for every equipment vendor. Departments can also pool funds to purchase shared resources, such as an ultrasound that can be shared between a cath lab and radiology.

4. Flexible scheduling

Imaging suites that accommodate multiple procedures grant hospitals greater scheduling flexibility. That means they can perform more procedures and drive more revenue in less time – the bottom line that offers business justification for investing in multi-procedure imaging systems.

Next step

Find tips for success when optimizing imaging systems for multiple procedures in Part 5 of this series.