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/1316512
4 6 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 When you make the major decision to partner with a com- pany and upgrade your surgical video system, you want to work with a vendor that will show you a roadmap for growth and innovation that offers proven ways to grow your service line over the next five, 10 or even 15 years. To ensure you get this from a video vendor, ask these questions: • What is the compatibility with our current equipment? Ideally, you'll use the same vendor to outfit your entire imaging chain, but if not, find out if there will be any compati- bility issues with the brands you already have. • How long will the system last? You'll need to provide the actual volume or estimated vol- ume of your cases, but your vendor should be able to give you a sufficient answer to this ques- tion. Video technology has a life cycle that can be determined based on expected usage. • What type of education can you provide? Find out if a vendor can provide industry stan- dards and best practices on using their video tech- nology during the differ- ent types of procedures for which you'll be using the equipment. Tech- savvy surgeons tend to find useful tutorials on YouTube, but receiving quality educational con- tent from vendors is an attractive and useful value-added service. • What are the maintenance costs? The initial capital costs of a video system upgrade — typically $100,000 to $150,000 for a single OR and heavily discounted the more rooms you include — are obviously the primary focus, but also drill down to ask about maintenance fees over the life of the equipment. One key aspect to find out about system maintenance: How many services techs does the vendor have within driving distance (around 100 miles) of your facility? — Suraj Soudagar, MS, MBA, LEED AP It was pitched as a one-time investment, but facili- ties are continually investing in upgrades to ensure high-quality images can be stored. Capturing and storing 4K videos will require a similar level of investment, and is a whole new dimension of patient data management you need to consider. Seamless integration When you upgrade your video system, you're not making a one-time decision. You also need to consider your facility's future needs and create a roadmap for down-the-road decisions. Nobody knows exactly what the future of surgical imag- ing will look like, but from an infrastructure standpoint, you should get the right pieces in place today to plan for a high-tech tomorrow. That way, your next upgrade becomes a seam- less endeavor — you won't have to rip out walls and change conduits. The amount of data you need to transfer data from the latest surgical video systems to an internal network is guaranteed to bog down bandwidth and affect other systems. Standard copper wires are an inadequate conductor for large 4K images, which degrade after they pass through 300 feet of the wire. That's why I recommend upgrading your video VISUAL ASSESSMENT Make sure can meet your facility's current and future clinical needs. CLEAR CHOICE Key Questions to Ask Vendors