Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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sinus pathology, or distorted or aberrant anatomy. In addition to improved precision and ultimately better surgical outcomes, image-guided systems allow surgeons to operate more efficiently, which reduces surgical times and ensures patients spend less time under anesthesia. Rewarding outcomes Improved patient outcomes and decreased risk of complications should be enough to convince reluc- tant facilities to invest in image-guided technology for their ENT service lines. If you're still hung up on the high upfront costs (you'll spend a minimum of $100,000 for new equipment), consider how quickly you'll recoup that investment based on sur- geons who want to work with the technology brin- ing additional cases to your facility and improved patient outcomes. You might also want to try another approach. As recently as five years ago, you could've made the argument that imagine-guided navigation would soon be the standard of care for outpatient ENT 6 6 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 surgery. But we've turned the corner and image-guided tech- nology should now be consid- ered the standard of care for any facility that's serious about ENT. Of course, otolaryngolo- gists can still handle the rou- tine sinus cases based on tal- ent, experience and an expert knowledge of the anatomy. But for any procedure that involves significant pathology, that's more than a straightforward case, surgeons should have access need to image-guided navigation. You really do need to have this technology avail- able to safely and effectively provide the quality care patients expect and the special- ty demands. Put another way: Surgeons and many savvy patients are demanding this technology. If your facility has been slow to adopt image-guided navigation, talk to your surgeons and see what they think. For instance, maybe a surgeon is bringing your facility more routine cases, and steering away from more complex nasal polyp, or recurrent rhinosinusi- tis cases or revisions, that you could easily capture if your facility offered the extra level of protection and precision inherent to image-guided navigation. As a surgeon, the most compelling arguments for utilizing image guidance come right from the patients. For surgeons, one of the greatest rewards of the profession occurs when I treat patients with constantly infected or chronically obstructed nasal passages and sinuses, and give them a pain-free existence and allow them to breathe normally again. With the help of invaluable technology like image-guided navigation, we can experience that reward each and every day. OSM Dr. Scotch (bscotch@scotchent.com) is board cer- tified in otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery, and founder of the Scotch Institute of Ear, Nose and Throat in Wesley-Chapel and Trinity, Fla. SOUND INVESTMENT To allay concerns about the upfront costs of navigation systems, consider how quickly your facility will recoup the investment as a result of added cases that might normally be performed at other facilities.