INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Ultrasonography to a great extent can be said to be an imaging modality of choice as regards to carrying out the diagnostic survey of various body organs/regions especially in obstetrical cases, although non-obstetrical cases are never left out. Nevertheless, this is made more evident when one chooses to check out the through-put of patients in both ultrasonographic units of almost all the government health institutions in Enugu metropolis and also in the ultrasonographic centre’s owned by private practitioners.1
Nigerians spend more than $0.5 trillion a year on healthcare, accounting for approximately 53% of the nation’s entire GDP. Yet many entrepreneurs are hesitant to enter the field probably because they believe they need an advanced medical background to be successful. In fact, there are several fields in the health sector for entrepreneurs who lack medical degrees to invest in, including ultrasonography. Although you must not have a medical school degree to launch an ultrasound business (non-professional entrepreneur), but a medical background will be useful, and your staff will need to be certified sonographers with current RDMS (Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer)credentials. If your business will also offer ultrasound reports, you will need certified radiologists either as staff or available on an out-sourced basis. Sonographic equipment is another hurdle you need to overcome during the early stages of your business plan: you will need to shop around to identify machines that are right for your business model and budget. Physicians expect to receive results quickly, so your Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) must be capable of immediately sending images to physicians and radiologists. Mobile ultrasound business, due to its convenience is becoming more commonplace as a way for physicians to bill patients directly while outsourcing ultrasound activities to an external provider. As a mobile ultrasound provider, you will need to invest in durable equipment that can easily be carried in and out of patients’ homes.2
In general, the value proposition for private practitioners is patient convenience, better management and increased revenue. Investment in ultrasonographic services by private practitioners has been on the increase. This could be attributed to more accruable economic benefits, it can also be said to offer great employment opportunities. A keen observation of ultrasonography in Enugu state revealed that the ultrasonographic services provided are inadequate. This could be attributed to the few number of ultrasonographic centre’s in the state coupled with inefficient management observed in most of these centre’s, particularly the government owned ones. With the existence of ultrasonographic units in the three government health institutions in Enugu and few other private ones, it is still believed that there has been less effort to establish more ultrasonographic centre’s despite the number of hospitals/clinics within the state.1
All these seems to point towards the need for more ultrasonographic centre’s in Enugu hence the need to assess the problems of establishing a good ultrasonographic centre and to determine the prospects of running it on a private basis.1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The prospective study will involve private hospitals and diagnostic centres in Enugu metropolis with an ultrasonographic unit.