Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1284191
Making the numbers work for you, too Message from the President Eric Honroth President, Getinge North America This edition of Managing Risk focuses on our company's most recent advancements in clinical workflow and patient care solutions (booms) for the ICU and ED. What very well may be unprecedented is the amount of public and governmental attention that both of these hospital units continue to receive as a barometer of frontline support for COVID-19 patients. Never before has the concept of intensive care been more appropriate in describing the myriad of clinical challenges facing healthcare providers in their exhausting quest to counteract the serious, sometimes fatal, effects of the Coronavirus. To make matters even worse, many institutions that were forced to limit or halt elective surgeries for several months or longer have experienced diminishing revenue streams at a time of rising pandemic-related operating costs. Plus, a number of rural hospitals had been facing sustained economic uncertainty long before COVID-19 arrived on our shores. As a result, numerous critical capital improvement projects have been indefinitely placed on hold or canceled because available financial resources have been redirected to support daily operations. That's why Getinge has introduced a number of innovative financial solutions (Read: Making the numbers work for you, too.) that are designed to ease this financial burden and help ensure that providers are well equipped to provide superior patient care despite the dramatic rise in COVID-19 hospital admissions. If nothing else, scenes of hectic, overcrowded ICUs and EDs routinely aired on broadcast, cable, and on-line news (not to mention what you have witnessed personally) help visualize the limitations of traditional headwalls, and the patient care advantages of ceiling supply units that improve patient-provider interactions. This is especially important since fast and uncompromised access to the airway and head is central to treating and caring for COVID-19 patients. The fact is that every extra step, wasted motion, and logistical logjam can be eliminated through the installation of these flexible, space-saving units — helping make life just a little easier for an already overworked and emotionally exhausted workforce who place their own lives at risk shift after shift. And for all of those on the frontline who provide non-stop compassionate patient care, all of us at Getinge offer our continued gratitude. The adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been limited to business and industry. A significant number of hospitals have also been severely impacted by a dramatic loss of revenue, as many non-critical procedures are forced to be postponed or canceled. According to a published report by Kaufman, Hall & Associates, at the request of the American Hospital Association, even prior to the pandemic, "the median hospital margin was a very modest 3.5%." 2 Depending on future developments, the report cautions that more than 50% of all US institutions could be facing negative margins moving forward. This all comes at a time when hospitals have an urgent need to invest in new facilities, treatments and technologies to better care for their patients. To this end, Financial Solutions from Getinge now offers an expanded portfolio of flexible financing options to help healthcare institutions simplify capital equipment acquisition through attractive payment terms that do not require a substantial capital outlay. For example, hospitals can finance two Getinge 86-Series Washers utilizing Getinge daily-use products over the course of the lease term, and receive a rebate up to 50% of the purchase price of the capital items. No upfront payment is required. A choice of financing options also is available to acquire the Maquet PowerLED II 500 surgical lighting system or Maquet Meera surgical table. These options feature affordable monthly or semi-annual payments with no initial payment required for either 90 or 180 days. Customized operating, capital or finance lease options facilitate the acquisition of the Maquet Moduevo Bridge ceiling supply unit and Maquet Moduevo Sky distributor for the ICU (see accompanying articles), as well as other Getinge equipment and technology platforms that are designed to enhance surgical workflows in the OR and CSD. Creative financial solutions also are available to fund daily-use products, software licensing and managed equipment services. 2. The Effect of COVID-19 on Hospital Financial Health. 2020, w w w.aha.org/system/ files/media/file/2020/07/KH-COVID-Hospital-Financial-Health_FINAL.pdf.