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THINKING OF BUYING …
forgoes vendor uniformity, though, planners stress the importance of
confirming the compatibility of each component before the purchase
and installation.
What do others think of it?
Even if it's classified by lux and degrees Kelvin, light is a subjective experience. The way that light looks as it illuminates a space
depends entirely on the space that you see it illuminating. In other
words, an exhibit hall or a manufacturer's showroom is not the place to
make a decision on which surgical light to buy for your facility.
In order to judge how well a light works in your own OR, without
the downtime and expense of uninstalling your current light and
replacing it with a demo model for the trial, you could ask the manufacturer to provide a temporary stand on which to set it up. But many
equipment planners recommend visiting a facility of approximately
the same size and with a similar case mix to yours that has purchased
the unit you're considering, in order to see the light. The vendor's rep
should be able to tell you who else in his territory has one.
This offers the additional benefit, the planners say, of putting you in
contact with people who have used the lighting system in actual surgeries for a substantial amount of time. They can tell you how maneuverable and stable the lights are, how well their focus and shadow controls
work in practice, and whether they've met the surgeons' needs. These
hands-on testimonials, along with vendor-supplied 3D room plans to
prevent collisions between lights, boom-mounted equipment or surgical
staffers' heads, can shed a lot of light on your lighting choices. OSM
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E-mail dbernard@outpatientsurgery.net.
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