The Interventional Suite Of The Future

Article preview from Medtech Insight - October 1, 2011

The cardiac interventional suite has historically been a setting where high-tech, cutting-edge tools are welcomed. But with hospitals scrutinizing expenditures more closely than ever before, such tools must now prove themselves.AHospitals looking to build new interventional suites, or modernize old ones, are placinga premium on technologies that can improve safety, efficiency, and flexibility while streamlining workflow. A handful of companies are now offering products designed to meet these needs, and providers are starting to take notice.

The Interventional Suite Of The Future

Article preview from Medtech Insight - October 1, 2011

The cardiac interventional suite – where catheter-based procedures are employed to treat everything from heart attacks to atrial fibrillation – has historically been a setting where high-tech, cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic tools are often welcomed and, in many cases, even conceived and fostered. However, in the current economic climate, with hospitals scrutinizing their expenditures more closely than ever before, such tools must now prove themselves above and beyond what was required in the past. Hospital purchasing departments have clearly raised the bar for new technologies – and many hospitals now require some type of proven, value-added benefit before agreeing to make the purchase. Such qualifications are typically defined as a direct reduction in procedural costs, an improvement in patient safety or outcomes, an added value in terms of reimbursement, or an increase in operating efficiency.

The situation is compounded by the fact that interventionalists are losing some of the clout they once enjoyed that enabled them to readily dictate the purchase of physician-preference items. This is particularly true as a growing number of cardiologists, electrophysiologists (EPs), and other cardiac specialists become direct employees of hospitals. Indeed, physician employees have a direct stake in the financial health of the hospital, and increasingly, hospital administrators are relying on them to help toe the line on system-wide cost control.

Interestingly, with this challenging environment as a backdrop, the interventional suite continues to undergo a slow but steady evolution aimed at creating an ultramodern space capable of maximizing efficiency and flexibility while streamlining workflow. This movement is being fueled by the introduction of a number of noteworthy technology advances from a handful of companies – both large and small – which in many cases are collaborating to help bring hospital procedure suites into the 21st century and beyond.

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