A Comprehensive Procurement Process for Medical Device Acquisition

Abstract

Traditional Request for Proposal (RFP) projects involve Biomedical Engineering (BME)  focusing on the evaluation of technical specifications and service support  considerations. In a recent RFP in Vancouver, Capital Procurement empowered BME to  manage the extensive regional purchase of epidural pumps and their accessories. A  comprehensive evaluation committee included and engaged all key stakeholders from  Anaesthesiology, Nursing, Pharmacy, Supply Chain, BME and a Human Factors Specialist.  The result of the evaluation was the successful selection of an epidural infusion pump  based on patient safety and clinical consideration.    The fast‐paced project, driven by the impending obsolescence of the existing Epidural  pump system, aimed to improve on the patient safety of epidural infusions with the  procurement of “smart pump” technology. The evaluation process incorporated safety  requirements in the RFP, a heuristic evaluation of all proposed pumps, an enhanced  technical evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs with clinical users, and a comprehensive  usability study in parallel with real‐time clinical evaluations. The primary focus of the  evaluation process was to understand the clinical and technical workflows to isolate  deficiencies and the potential for error.    The implementation process required the review of the physician order sets and  medication labeling practices in Pharmacy to consistently present medication  information. The pumps were programmed using a drug error reduction system to  mirror the order sets and labels to simplify user interaction for increased safety.    This abstract illustrates that a comprehensive evaluation team for medical device  acquisitions can have far‐reaching benefits that improve patient safety and system  efficiencies in the entire organization.