Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/129533
S U R G I C A L I M A G I N G IMAGE MANAGEMENT Finding Room for High-Def TECHNOLOGY BOOM There's nothing minimal about the amount of equipment needed to perform laparoscopy. Improved laparoscopic visualization is attributable to a combination of technical innovations at work both inside and outside the sterile field. Between the HD camera and HD monitor are the streaming, routing and connections that make imaging possible, says Jeannie Montgomery, MBA, RN, director of practice operations and development project manager for United Surgical Partners in Addison, Texas. "The smaller the incision, the more equipment you need to manage it. You have to plan for larger spaces," she says. The necessity of imaging in laparoscopic procedures demands video monitors. The preponderance of video monitors in the technologically advanced OR requires cart stands or equipment booms for monitor placement with portability. In order to accommodate cart footprints and avoid collisions between boom-armmounted equipment, you'll need physical space. That's how the cutting edge of laparoscopic visualization depends on something as prosaic as the dimensions of a room. "On average, you'll need 360 to 400 square feet to accommodate the technology without compromising the sterile field," says Ms. Montgomery. The ceiling height should be 10 feet, with a stable superstructure above that to bolt the boom to, if you're going the boom route. That's highly advisable, she says, because the infrastructure of a boom can reduce damage to data cables and electrical cords by housing them inside its infrastructure between the control units, routers and monitors they connect; eliminate the trip hazards of exposed wires cluttered and stretched across the floor around the surgical table; facilitate the ability to add cables and outlets for new technology as needed; and even ease the ergonomic environment by making the video monitors that surgeons otherwise have to crane their necks to see maneuverable into their line of sight. If you're considering adding booms, however, be sure to thoroughly talk through, and walk through, the project and space with your video integration vendor. This is essential to preventing conflicts in the space and forestalling the buyer's remorse that would certainly follow retrofitting your facility with a near-permanent improvement that hasn't actually improved workflow efficiency. "For a time, a lot of video sources were different," says Ms. Montgomery. "You were left wondering, what plugs into where? Many video integration vendors are savvier now, trying to simplify systems with all-in-one connectors, a universal plug-in port. That's been a tremendous advance, regardless of which signal or input is used." — David Bernard