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John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | April 30, 2018
From the April 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
In addition to these trends, the emphasis on dose optimization and limiting exposure to patients and providers alike has ushered in new, safer-performing solutions.
The Fluroscan Insight FD mini C-arm, a mobile solution designed by Hologic that can lower dose by up to 50 percent while still maintaining exceptional image quality, is an example of this.
“You want the largest, clearest image possible to ensure an accurate diagnosis at a low dose to ensure patient and user safety,” Mike Toomey, senior director of marketing for Hologic, told HCB News.
Of surgical tables and imaging tables
When it comes to the technology used for imaging patients, the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts, and that includes not only C-arms but tables, too. The predicament of choosing a table involves a series of considerations from the positioning of patients to the type of procedures performed.
“Are they going to need a specific positioning other than, for example, a beach chair or a flower position?” says Kulkarni. “Do they also need to image in those kinds of positions? If they do, they’re better off using a surgical table. Otherwise, just a flat imaging table is good. However, if they plan to utilize the room for both open surgical procedures as well, a surgical table with changeable imaging top is preferred.”
Such considerations can impact not only patient outcomes but the workflow, time and ease experienced by physicians, which play into the successful completion of procedures and can impact the hospital’s bottom line.
Matthew Blaustein, president of Bluestone Diagnostics, a company that specializes in the rental and sale of refurbished C-arm equipment, says that choosing the right table depends largely on the kind of procedures the system will be used for. “Most pain management doctors require a table with a minimum amount of functionality, whereas a customer seeking vascular functionality might desire a more complex table,” he says.
When ProHealth Care Associates replaced its fixed table system with one that was movable, Herman and his colleagues discovered firsthand how that functionality could improve their work.
“Before we could only move the C-arm, which put a big strain on the operator’s back and shoulder,” says Herman. “Now, the table moves with ease, putting much less stress on physicians and making the procedure itself quicker and smoother.
Solutions to mitigate downtime
Like any capital equipment in the hospital, service maintenance is a crucial element of the hybrid OR investment and providers should take system monitoring, available hands-on support and the ordering of parts into account when inking a new deal.
