Efficiency of utilization of a computed tomography scanner

Efficient utilization of diagnostically effective but expensive computed tomography (CT) brain scanners requires understanding of time factors influencing patient throughput. In a study at UCLA Medical Center using an EMI Mark I brain scanner, the average number of patients studied was 16.3 per 15.5 hr workday, for an average of 52.7 min per patient. Of the patients, 51.5% were inpatients at UCLA, 45% received intravenous iodinated constrast infusion, and 33% had studies showing significant abnormalities. The x-ray tube was on 51.1% of the time the scanner facility was open, with scanning averaging 34.6 min per patient. The average number of images obtained was 10.4 per patient at 3.4 min per image. Patient handling, including contrast infusion, accounted for an additional 16.2 min per patient or 34.4% of the total time utilization. Anesthesia lengthened the procedure by 1 hr but was needed in only 4.5% of the cases. Flexible scheduling was essential, since 14% of the patients failed to keep their appointments or had their studies cancelled. These timing data suggest that the faster, more expensive CT scanners being introduced, while having diagnostic advantage for body scanning, will not significantly decrease cost per patient when used for brain scanning compared with the first generation machine studied.
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