Development of a tool for selection and acquisition of medical devices based on the analytic hierarchy process

The existence of a tool to select and acquire Medical Devices is fundamental to manage the Life Cycle (LC) of Medical Devices (MD). The objective of this work is to create a structured, organized and optimized application to use on the selection and acquisition stage of a tender process, in order to help those responsible for the decision making. In addition, it will turn the process exempt and transparent. The methodology is based on a defined hierarchical multi-criteria decision-making approach, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) optimizing and validating all the requirements stated in a tender process and ensuring, free from human manipulation, that the best option will be chosen. The demonstrative study is applied to Computed Tomography (CT), with the aim of applying the methodology in the selection and acquisition of the best choice between four alternatives. The developed tool includes some weights that are assigned to the established criteria and sub-criteria according to the present and future needs of each healthcare provider. It has been proven that the price is not the only criteria, and perhaps not the most important. All technical and operational requirements as maintenance costs, availability, image quality, safety, and client satisfaction must also be included in the decision-making process.