por
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | April 30, 2018
From the April 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
"For hybrid operating rooms, we offer a tailored service program that provides hospitals with workflow consulting and training beyond the time of purchase,” says Kulkarni. “Customers are assigned a unique telephone number and concierge representative who proactively handles all customer care functions.”
For Siemens customers, having access to the Signature Service concierge support line means having service engineers on hand who are ready to triage any issue.
But what if your facility does not have a comprehensive service package or the C-arm becomes temporarily non-operational due to an upgrade installation? In these situations, rentals can be the key to ensuring patient throughput isn’t compromised.
One of the main advantages of renting is that all service costs throughout the rental period are included, according to Blaustein. His customers have begun seeking C-arms with a larger field of view, a trend he credits to the increase in surgery for total joints (i.e., anterior hips) being added to the procedure list at outpatient surgery centers.
Modular Devices, which has a fleet of 25 complete cardiovascular imaging systems, has made a business out of renting entire cath labs, modular and mobile, to providers that find themselves in a pinch.
“There is a lot that goes into properly installing the X-ray system, C-arm and table in our interim labs,” Mark Koers, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Modular Devices, told HCB News. “All of the systems in our labs, both mobile and modular, are FDA- and OEM-approved installations, fully supported and serviced throughout the U.S.”
Space considerations make the modular units particularly well-suited for customers embarking on a long term project or planning to conduct more complex procedures, according to Koers, since they are at least twice as large.
A singularity on the horizon
Although refurbished C-arms with flat panel detectors are still rare and therefore expensive, Blaustein expects about 40 or 50 percent of the systems in the used market to have them within five years, and the price to come down accordingly.
As technology evolves and time goes on, some experts predict these systems are heading toward a convergence where mobile and fixed C-arms could merge and perhaps incorporate other imaging modalities. Such a system could conceivably yield many benefits, including reduced procedure times and enhanced workflow for patients getting a range of necessary care of imaging in a single treatment.
