Working with consultants
For hospitals looking to use a consultant or a hybrid approach, the more information that can be gathered ahead of conversations with outside resources, the smoother the process will go. Some information is under the category of “must-haves” and some is helpful, but not necessarily critical. The modalities to be serviced, the level of support from in-house staff, the number of machines, how advanced the technology is – all of that information really should be provided early in the discussions to produce good cost estimates. Other information, like who the manufacturer and service organizations are, the age of the equipment, how often the equipment is used and what days it’s free to go over will also factor into costs, but typically have less impact. And state regulations could be more or less of a factor depending on a facility’s location.

If a consultant is being considered as part of a hybrid element to a medical physics program, it’s important to ask if they offer any training for in-house staff. Training in-house staff opens the door to a possible scale-down of consultant costs in the future as staff gains know-how and the experience to take over some tasks. On the other hand, always keeping a consultant on “as needed” will allow the ratcheting up or down, as needs are dynamic and the breadth of required expertise is entensive.
One last point to note that should be obvious, but can be surprisingly neglected. Once a checklist is developed, be sure to use it! If you’ve done your research to create a proper checklist, it will help you stay focused on your medical physics program needs.

About the author: Thomas J. Petrone, Ph.D., DABR, is the chief medical physicist and CEO at Petrone Associates.

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