the expense of a wholesale replacement, he adds.
Improving your endoscopic visualization comes down to the big
question in health care of how much care can you provide in
exchange for a fixed reimbursement amount. "At the end of the day,
there's an incentive for surgery centers to make a profit," says Dr.
Parikh. "They have to ask themselves, Is it reasonable to spend a lot
of money that they're not going to get back?"
3. Is it easy to use (and practical to have)?
In colonoscopy, as in other processes, "you're building from the
ground up," says Dr. Parikh. "Is the patient well-prepped? Does the
endoscopist know what he is doing? Is he taking the time to properly
do the procedure? If he's just whipping the scope out like a ripcord,
he's not going to see anything."
New technology is similarly evaluated from the ground up. In order
for physicians to enjoy its full advantages, it should be intuitive and
not obstructive to use. Does it truly enhance visualization? Can it
enable swifter advance times? Will it reduce the likelihood of looping,
protecting patients from the risk of perforation?
Even as an increasing number of cases are migrating to the outpa-
tient setting, it's also advisable to ask just how complex the cases
your physicians host are. Will a new technology's cutting-edge detec-
tion features be in frequent enough demand at your facility for it to be
a practical investment? "As advances come out, each has a place and
a space," says Dr. Parikh. "Many of them can be seen in tertiary care,
used by subspecialists who handle the most difficult colonoscopies."
But if your schedule is generally booked with routine colonoscopies,
will your physicians ever perform enough cases with high-end func-
tions to acquire the necessary hands-on practice with them, and to
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