Hospitals Paying The Price To Keep Pace With Changing Technology
By Karla Paris
Robotic technology is all the rage but is it really worth trying to keep up with Jones’?
With advertising driving up consumer demand for robotics, hospitals are struggling to make the right financial decisions. Though robotic surgery has brought many medical advances and benefits, it comes with a high price tag according to Nevada Business.
Brian Brannman, VP of operations, Sienna Campus, St. Rose Hospitals says, “We try to make certain we’re providing the kind of services wanted in a population, and in a way that provides the quality of care and keeps costs down.
“Robotics certainly has a lot of potential for the future, but currently it’s very expensive. A lot of folks have invested in it because they don’t want to be the only hospital or system that doesn’t have a robot.” Eventually he expects demand will grow, but in the meantime hospitals have laid out a great deal of money and may only be using robots for a dozen cases.
As with most new technology, hospital administrators are waiting to see how applicable it is. “The technology is changing so quickly the prudent CEO will weigh the benefits and costs of the new technology with the improved care and safety,” said Kimball Anderson, CEO, Southern Hills Hospital.
How the technology is used is also important – Southern Hills’ new 64 slice CT scanner is going into the emergency room so there’s no need to take emergency patients back to an imaging department. While the hospital has surgical robots, it is not trading in its 64 slice CT scanner for a 128 slice scanner to gain two seconds of time.
Today’s imaging technologies allow doctors to avoid many exploratory surgeries. Doctors at Centennial Hills can access imaging devices right in OR during spine surgery, and have access to some of the most technologically advanced imaging equipment, said Sajit Pullarkat, CEO/managing director, Centennial Hills Hospital, Valley Health System.
Robotic surgery is more expensive than open surgery as it requires a large initial investment, on average $1 million to $2 million as well as ongoing annual maintenance costs of approximately $250,000 – these costs are not present in open surgery.
Additionally, robotic surgery requires disposable or limited-use instruments (shears, needle drivers, graspers, forceps) with an average cost of approximately $2,000 per instrument, which are replaced every 10 surgeries, versus the mostly reusable instruments in open surgery. However, reports have shown that, in some cases, the hospital could break even on their robotic investment after as few as 90 surgeries.