Case Study

Surgical Center Finds Value in Skytron Lights and Tables

The 45,000 sq. ft. Grand Valley Surgical Center (Grand Rapids, MI) is one of the new freestanding outpatient surgical facilities spreading across the country. With 143 privileged physicians and highly experienced staff, Grand Valley provides same-day surgery in gynecology, orthopedics, ear/nose/throat, general, urology, hand/plastic, podiatry and ophthalmology using four fully equipped, specifically designed operating rooms (ORs).

Vendor fair

Selecting the right equipment for the ORs was crucial. "After working with Arthur Anderson to develop procedures and an equipment consultant to develop a plan structure, we set criteria for each product we needed," said Linda Kirk RN, MPA, CNOR, surgical nurse manager at the center. " Then we set up our own vendor fair. We had vendors come in with their recommendations, and let our people see, touch, operate, and ask questions.

"We needed quality and flexibility backed by service," she continued. "Cost was measured by the value of the first three criteria."

"We chose Skytron surgical lights and tables," Kirk said. "We believed the products met our quality requirement—they had to work without question in a surgical OR.

"They also met our flexibility requirement, working with the tasks we perform. And Skytron and our local representative had proven they could meet our quick, responsive, continuity of personalized service requirements by their past performance at Butterworth Hospital [part of Spectrum Health]," she said. "Skytron's product cost wasn't the lowest but its relative value was the highest and together they gave us the best solutions."

Shedding light

The benefits of Skytron lights included the following, according to Kirk:

  • High-quality light. Their white halogen bulbs provide bright white, versus yellow, light.
  • Focusability. They can be adjusted to flood a wide field for hand surgery and topical procedures down to a small, specific-size circle and flood a deep surgical cavity for abdominal surgery
  • Modular design. Specific lighting configurations can be built.
  • Ease of use. Light intensity is easy to adjust. Lights can be focused from the side of the hood or the center of the light cluster, moved in a full circle, and tilted to supply the best angle of light for surgery.

Skytron tables provided various benefits as well, Kirk maintains:

  • Quality. They had worked in the OR at Butterworth without question.
  • Flexibility. With the Skytron table platform and an array of peripheral accessory options, the center could use the four ORs interchangeably for its eight surgical procedure categories.
  • Service. As mentioned earlier, Skytron demonstrated its service capabilities.

Constant monitoring

"We monitor how things work for us," said Kirk. "We're always looking to make sure our products and equipment are cost-efficient and cost-effective. This process is ongoing and part of our continuing effort to keep operations and medical costs at the most practical level."

As featured in the December 1998/January 1999 issue of Outpatient Care Technology (Reilly Communications Group publication, www.reillycomm.com)