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C A P I T A L
E Q U I P M E N T
ness, contamination, sterilization, intra-operative failure, traceability
and expensive equipment repairs.
Don't expect the TMC Orthopaedic Outpatient Surgery Center in
Tucson, Ariz., to use them. "We have plenty of back-up instruments,
and the added cost of using one of these disposable items is not reimbursable," says Stuart Katz, MBA, FACHE, the center's director. "If the
surgeons don't know the economics, they'll be more apt to ask for
these items. If they know the dollars involved and how it affects their
pockets, they won't."
Perhaps this is the proposition: In a typical month, how many orthopedic surgeries are delayed or canceled because power tools were
unavailable? While power tools are challenging to clean and reprocess
(you can't submerge them), not to mention expensive ($50 to $100 in
supplies and labor), the real utility of single-use tools could come into
play when a power tool is to blame for a delayed or canceled case.
When might this happen? When you open a power tool for surgery
and the sterile wrapping is compromised or you spot residual bioburden. Or when the set that was to be used in surgery is still in reprocessing, delaying the start of the case by minutes or even hours.
What matters to surgeons
Whether you invest $30,000 in traditional power tool sets or $300 in
single-use tools, what your surgeons want in their power tools
remains the same:
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A R C H 2013
