around $6,000 a year because we're able to steam-sterilize the cam-
eras. We also negotiated a 7-year warranty on the camera heads,
which will save us close to $100,000 (the warranty would have cost us
$13,600 a year). Our vendor also cut our service contract in half.
Our video system is amazingly compact and doesn't make a substan-
tial footprint in the OR. I liken it to a "video tower in a box." It inte-
grates 3 components — high-def cameras, an LED light source and an
image management system — that used to be available as separate
systems into one console that uses an Apple iPad tablet interface.
Having one console and one interface simplifies use and makes it easy
to accommodate individual surgeon preferences, which we can store
on the cloud.
We had long wanted to upgrade our video imaging equipment, but
we have the Pennsylvania Department of Health to thank for really
spurring us into action. The state DOH granted our surgical center an
exception to perform laparoscopic vaginal hysterectomy and laparo-
scopic supracervical hysterectomy. The imaging equipment we had
was sufficient, but we knew it was time to invest in the latest technol-
ogy. If we're going to do these advanced GYN procedures, we want to
be sure we're really keeping patients safe by providing our physicians
with the best possible tools. Last month we hosted our first laparo-
scopic hysterectomy. The procedure went very smoothly, with excel-
lent patient outcomes. I attribute the success in large part to our new
video equipment.
Complex laparoscopic surgery is difficult to master. This is made
harder by the fact that you must interpret a 3-dimensional environ-
ment on a 2-dimensional viewing screen. Dr. Frank says he was able
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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 O N L I N E | J U LY 2 0 1 5
"If we're going to do these advanced GYN procedures,
we want to be sure we're really keeping patients safe by
providing our physicians the best possible tools."
— Pamela Ertel, RN, BSN, CNOR, RNFA, CASC, FABC