tors that its arms could accommodate.
"Surgeons want to know if equipment will reach to where they want
it," says Ms. Spivey, recalling the facility that mocked up a model of a
boom in the space that would become an OR. "A surgeon came in —
he was very tall — and asked, 'Will these 2 lights come over here so I
can do a hip on this side of the table?' He pulled them over, said, 'Yep,
I can,' and then he left."
Nurses and techs, on the other hand, have ergonomics on their
minds. "The ease of use. How heavy the arms are, how easy it is to
move them," says Ms. Spivey. "We hear a lot that that will make their
decision."
Ms. Lisieski agrees. "You don't want to have to push the arms feeling
like the brakes are always on, and you want them to stay stable where
they're placed."
Test drives
Booms are designed for efficiency, but that efficiency may come with
unintended consequences. "Like any large piece of equipment, it can
change the workflow of a room," says Mr. Ano. "At one hospital we
visited, it took some time for staff to get used to it. They had to bring
stretchers in the door at a different angle."
That's why site visits and sit-downs with other boom buyers are so
important. "I toured the manufacturing plant, I visited hospitals to see
them in use, to see them being placed, I took a zillion pictures," says Mr.
Ano.
"For our visits, we sent a well-rounded group: a physician, a biomed-
ical engineer, our purchaser, 2 administrators, some nurses and the
architect went. The same group went to each visit, to keep it consis-
tent," says Ms. Lisieski.
"Be sure to ask, 'Was there anything you purchased that you're
thinking twice about now?' as well as 'What didn't you get, that now
you wish you did?'" says Ms. Spivey.
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