Introduction
The use of robotic technology in surgical department is a new and developing technology in the healthcare sector. Surgical robotic is a currently a technology that has already been tested and proven and now available in the market. This technology is associated with a number of advantages since it makes surgical procedures more accurate and efficient. These robots contain key function to enhance complex surgeries, and wound minimization as a result of low inversion actions (Lanfranco et al., 2004). Normally, robots used in surgery are computer controlled an aspect that eases the surgical procedures. This implies that, with robots even the most complicate surgeries become easier and can be done within a short time period. However, the facility is quite expensive to acquire. This paper analyzes the competitive advantage of acquiring a robotic unit in a hospital.
Stakeholders in the Scenario
The new facility will impact a number of individuals either directly or indirectly. Among the people that will be impacted by this new facility will include surgeons who will be using the robot in operation. This system will ease their procedures and enhance their efficiency. The other stakeholder is the patients needing surgical procedures, this system will reduce the agony involved in open surgery since it minimizes wounds and reduce the surgery time. This also implies that the waiting time in the surgery queue will reduce and thus increasing the chances of saving patients’ life. Another stakeholder is the surgical robot manufacturer and sellers who are responsible of developing a system that meets all the required standards to enhance safety, accuracy and anticipated efficiency. The hospital financial department is the other stakeholder who will be responsible of providing enough money to purchase enough units based on the size of the intended surgical unit and its main surgical purpose. Finally, is the hospital management that is involved in the process of decision making in this matter.
Impact for Acquiring the Surgical Robotic Unit to the Stakeholders
Acquiring of the robotic unit will ease the life of surgeons and improve their work performance. Robots are designed in a manner that makes a surgery more objective by providing pictures of the situation ahead. They are also designed to enhance accuracy such that they can allow a surgeon to hit the target without interfering with the patient body as an open surgery does. It therefore minimizes the wound and thus the patient’s surgical pain level. Robots will thus increase the number of successful surgeries and also allow one surgeon to make a higher number of operations per day than in the usual open surgery since the procedure is faster than open surgery. Patients on the other hand will have a much better experience with the surgical procedure. This will include reduced surgical time, waiting time, minimized wounds and hence minimized level of pain. The procedure accuracy will be much higher an aspect that reduces medical complications related with surgical errors and increase chances of healing. However, they may be required to pay more for this service than in the usual open procedures (Brad& Murar, 2014).
Final financial department will also experience the impact of acquiring this unit. Although they may need to part with a huge amount of cash to set it up, they will also experience higher revenue that other healthcare facilities that still use old surgical procedures. The advantages associated with the current robotic system will attract more patients to the hospital than usual. In addition the reduced operation time will increase the number of individuals a surgeon can handle (Lanfranco et al., 2004). In this regard, the hospital will manage to handle a huge number of patients than in a normal surgical unit. This will definitely increase the hospital revenue. The hospital management will also benefit from the increased competitive advantage and high organization revenue that comes along with it. This will enable them to manage other organization projects especially those that involve modernization of the hospital facility and purchase of expensive machinery. The chances of expanding the hospital further using net profit will also go high. The Robert manufacturers will benefit by making sales for their products, increasing positive feedback and hence creating chances of expanding their market shares. This is due to the fact that other surrounding hospital will consider purchasing the new system to keep up with the new level of competition in surgical unit.
Internal and External Factors that will Impact the Decision
The decision on whether to acquire the robotic surgical unit or not will be influenced by a number of factors. Some of these factors will be internal and they include the availability of enough money to finance the project. Purchasing surgical robots can be very expensive and can only be successful if the hospital has enough money to acquire enough robots to meet the hospital demand (Lanfranco et al., 2004). The second aspect is surgeons’ preference. The use of robotic technology are complex and thus, surgeons may require advanced training on how to operate the system to ensure the anticipated level of efficiency and accuracy is maintained (Brad & Murar, 2014). Therefore, surgeon willingness to prepare for the use of this new system in their operation will also be necessary. The available room will also be an issue since robotic systems are big and cumbersome and thus they will need a bigger operation space. Among the external factors that will determine the decision is the patients’ acceptance of the new system. Patients may not have full faith on this new system and thus, they may still prefer the old procedure even after the hospital has acquired the new facility.
Consumers (Patient’s) Reaction
Patients reaction to the introduction of the robotic system may vary based on the individual. Some may embrace the technology and enjoy the advantage it brings to them. However, others may feel uneasy about entrusting their life to a programmed object. Many may imagine of any possible failure that can interfere with robotic operations such as power, bugs or any other error (BenMessaoud et al., 2011). Thus, it may take time to convince them of the efficiency and reliability of a robotic system. Patients reaction may vary based on the knowledge one has on this technology and the level of exposure. Young people are more likely to accept and endorse the technology than old.
Technology Impact on the Organization Competitiveness
There are a number of advantages that are associated with the use of robotic technology in surgery. Among these advantages include efficiency, accuracy, ability to handle complex surgical tasks, and reduced operation speed. This implies that, the hospital will manage to carry out more complex operation accurately and efficiently (Brad & Murar, 2014). In this regard, they will manage to get more patients either through referral or out of own-will. This will eliminate any fear among the patients and create trust, an aspect that will attract more patients to the hospital. The ability to perform more surgeries per day using one unit will increase the number of patients attended per and thus, increasing the organization’s revenue. The good organization performance in surgical department that include reduced surgical wounds, reduced pain level, and reduced surgical and waiting time will highly build the organization reputation and thus, attracting more patients even to the other organization departments. In this regard, the employment of robotic surgical unit will improve the general performance of the organization (Lanfranco et al., 2004).
Get Your Custom Paper From Professional Writers. 100% Plagiarism Free, No AI Generated Content and Good Grade Guarantee. We Have Experts In All Subjects.
Place Your Order Now