system up and running. "They can save you a ton time or cost you a
ton of time," says Dr. Nho. "You really do rely on your vendors as
much as any other personnel in the OR."
Indeed, the vendor rep who worked with Ascension was a critical
part of the OR team. "Our vendor provided real-time, on-site support
for a full 90 days after we went live with our upgrades," says Mr.
Kaczmarek. "I didn't know we would need this amount of support
when we were trialing vendors, but I'm certainly glad we had it."
Don't be afraid to set clear expectations about what you expect
from a vendor when adding imaging technology. In other words, make
it clear to the rep that you expect the upgrade process to be as seam-
less as possible because surgeons won't have a lot of patience for dis-
ruptions to their block times, and you need to keep revenue-generat-
ing cases moving through your facility. Excessive downtime isn't an
option, and the clearer you are about this expectation, the more
smoothly the upgrade will go, says Dr. Soans.
There's no way around the large upfront investment of upgrading
your visualization system, but, just as in the consumer market, 4K
prices have dropped significantly in recent years. Some vendors
offer a managed equipment services agreement, which is structured
a lot like a financing option. Essentially, facilities can opt to pay for
the service and technology over time instead of all at once.
There are also some proven ways to ensure you get the best deal
possible for your facility. "If you have a preferred vendor your facility
uses, but they're not giving you the best pricing on 4K, use the other
vendors to help you get a better quote," says Dr. Nho. Plus, as Dr. Nho
points out, a lot of vendors are looking for contracts on implants and
disposables and are willing to provide towers and monitors for a nom-
inal cost if you sign exclusive instrument and implant contracts.
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