The healthcare sector as a whole is facing increasing cost pressure, which requires solutions that offer savings opportunities in order to ensure cost-effectiveness. An important element in this context is the procurement and operation of medical equipment which requires considerable investment and daily operating costs.
Healthcare facilities do not always have the possibility to make cost decisions on the basis of independent, verifiable data. For example, at Biel Hospital, the power usage and operating hours of medical equipment were not previously recorded, or they had to be compiled with considerable manual effort. Such information is crucial for evaluating the need for such equipment, determining requirements, and ultimately making well-founded fact-based decisions about new purchases.
The goal of our project was therefore to create a data set that closes this gap in knowledge. An important criterion was that no patient-related information should be collected to meet data protection requirements.
In close cooperation with a university hospital in Switzerland, Intersys AG has developed a data collection solution called “Ivaluation”.
With a manufacturer-independent measuring device such as Ivaluation, the daily usage of the ultrasonic devices is measured and made available to the manager of the health facility with an easy-to-use dashboard, providing an accurate overview into the operating and examination times, shutdown and standby phases.
Similarly, the power usage is also displayed.
The ultrasonic devices can be identified individually, but also grouped together by departments or units.
With the assistance of such operating data, it is possible to make meaningful conclusions regarding the usage of all connected machines and this can be vital to the management of the healthcare facility when making decisions based on machine capacity or energy consumption.
At Biel Hospital 45 ultrasound machines were equipped with Ivaluation. After just three months the collected data showed that some ultrasonic devices had a relatively low utilization.
The examination and interpretation of the data showed that at the Biel Hospital in 2024, the cost savings for procurement amounted to approximately CHF 500,000.
It can therefore be seen that the data generated by Ivaluation confirms where investments are economically justified and show the necessity for evidence-based support in making such decisions.
In Department A it became apparent that the six ultrasonic devices located there had a very low average utilization of 0.235%, without a clear need for them having been found. Therefore, potential savings were identified.
The ultrasonic device in Department B was only used an average of 1.03% during this period. However, the provision of this ultrasonic device is justified by the need to ensure emergency examinations and must be available at all times. Consequently, there is no opportunity for savings in this department.
Christophe Bircher, Head of Medical Technology, will be happy to provide you with reference information.
Head of Medical Technology
christophe.bircher@szb-chb.ch
Katharina Knoche
Sales Managerin Hospital
katharina.knoche@intersys.ch
+41 79 534 12 03