1. Know when it's time to upgrade. I loved the HD video equip-
ment that we had when it came out. I liked the screen and picture and
my eyes were used to it. But we realized a few years ago that it had
outlived its age because, among other things, reliability became an
issue. There were some pauses in the images, the wiring was going
bad, camera heads wouldn't read correctly and the colors would be
off and you'd have to adjust them. The images just weren't as sharp.
When those glitches happened during procedures, we had backup,
but there was a lot more service required with more frequency. And
because it was old equipment, that made it more difficult to maintain
and service. Even the company was saying there was only so much it
could do to keep it working. Bottom line: HD was a workhorse for us,
but it was time to change horses.
2. Do a trial run. Yes, we all know that a 4K video image is 4 times
the resolution of regular full HD, but nothing compares to seeing it for
yourself on a 55-inch 4K UHD monitor. You can go to conferences and
see presentations, but until you see it in the OR, you can't appreciate
the sense of immersion that brings you closer to every detail.
We invited 3 major companies to come in for a 2-week trial so we
could test their cameras, light sources, insufflators and monitors.
Around 30 of our physicians and staff who work in our 24 ORs over 2
campuses trialed and rated each product using a number scale. We
had paper forms with a brief questionnaire and our comments to fill
out each day that we used the equipment. The questionnaires were
then collected and cumulated. Among the things we rated were the
setup of the system and its usability. As you might expect, physicians
looked closely at image quality while staff keyed in on setup and ease
of use.
6 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8
