install its new 4K system. "I don't think it was any more or less expen-
sive than other systems out there," says Mr. Helmer. "The user inter-
face and the true 4K image quality is what sold it for us."
M A R C H 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 3
imaging system, each OR was down for only 2 days as the
installers rotated through the rooms. If he had opted to go with a
new vendor, each room would have been offline for as long as 10
days.
It can cost thousands of extra dollars to retrofit an existing
space because of the extra labor required to build structures that
support the different booms that hold video equipment.
Tracy Helmer, RN, the manager of a new surgery center built by
Henderson (Nev.) Hospital, knows all too well about the potential
logistical nightmare facilities face when installing new video sys-
tems.
"In our main campus, we actually had to retrofit part of a new
video system because some equipment was installed incorrectly,"
says Mr. Helmer. The redo required additional work to remove the
incorrect equipment, re-run the fiber optic cables and reinstall the
correct equipment.
The best-case scenario is to integrate the structural compo-
nents of a new video system into your new space by addressing it
during the architectural design phase.
"Having the video system pre-planned and installed during the
construction of our new center saved us a lot of money," says Mr.
Helmer. "We were lucky because a lot of facilities have to retrofit
their systems into existing facilities, which can be very expen-
sive."
— JoEllen McBride, PhD
