Guest Editor: Data Is King

Embrace the technology that’s connecting ORs and improving outcomes everywhere.

The time between waves of new OR tech entering your facility gets shorter and shorter. But things can still move slowly in medicine, even when it comes to introducing seemingly basic technology to count surgical sponges and ensure they’re never left inside a patient. The speed of tech arriving in your ORs is speeding up, however, and you’d better get used to it, because technology is here today — and will continue to expand into your facilities at a faster clip than ever before.

One of the next genres of technology you can expect to be introduced to involves the collection and interpretation of data. It’s coming soon, and we can thank the video game generation for its swift arrival. As gamers come of age and come into positions of power, they bring with them a sped-up version of expectation, of getting what they want. When this generation played video games growing up, they wanted faster reactions during whatever kind of game they were playing. They also wanted the experience to be as realistic as possible, which led to inventions such as the sound of a ball being hit to come out of their speakers when they hit a certain button on their controllers.

All of these gaming advances are based on a computer chip, which keep getting faster and better at responding to any stimuli we can provide on a joystick, mouse, computer keyboard or even a medical device. As these chips get smaller and smaller, and the economies of scale allow them to be easily integrated into all of these devices, their chip-enabled functions will further drive the data revolution. As Google has proven, data is always king.

If you have data, you can mine data. Once you have it and mine it, you can run analytics 1,000 different ways to achieve the best possible outcomes for things such as patient safety, surgeon efficiency, staff efficiency, room turnovers and more.

In this Outpatient Surgery Magazine Special Edition Integration of the OR, you’ll read about how the latest colonoscopes access artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve adenoma detection rates; how advances in lasers, microscopes and monitors improve cataract and glaucoma surgeries; why 3D video will likely be the norm in operating rooms everywhere within the next decade or so; and how new robotic companies and new custom and smart implants will continue to revolutionize outpatient total joints programs.

Of course, there’s also the business side of investing in these emerging technologies. That’s why this issue also explores capital equipment needs and the core costs to integrate your most important service lines — as well as a rundown on the latest wireless systems to connect your ORs’ devices, electronic medical records and images with as few hitches as possible.

There is a wide array of benefits to working in high-tech, integrated operating rooms, all centered on increased efficiencies leading to greater productivity. When surgical teams have better, more organized access to the information they need for outpatient procedures, they communicate more effectively. When providers can access patient data, view images and control lighting from a single control system, workflows improve dramatically. The result, when everything is properly implemented, is better clinical outcomes at lower operating costs.

More data is coming, and it all will be seamlessly connected in state-of-the-art ORs. It is up to you how to embrace this technology and make the best use of it so that you, as a provider, can deliver the best outcomes for your patients, your staff and your community as a whole. OSM