Striving to get new technology into the critical care environment: Strategies and a checklist to improve your chance of success

Hospitals today are caught between conflicting forces: the marketplace demand for technological excellence and the need to economize. In this challenging environment, resources are allocated stringently. Administrators increasingly look for a return on their internal investment, and the ICU is usually regarded as yielding slight returns. In requesting new technology, intensivists must prepare proposals that are based on thorough cost analyses. They must also develop their political skills to negotiate effectively with administrators and with other hospital departments. Distinct steps in the process of acquiring technology are technology assessment, interdepartmental collaboration, vendor selection, cost assessment, proposal presentation, and patience.