The digital OR offers flexibility

In the past decade, many companies and organizations ramped up their digital efforts in order to overhaul their business processes and improve customer experience. The same can be said of the OR. Just like in the business world, the OR is not becoming digital for digitization’s sake, but rather to reduce complexity, simplify workflows, and increase efficiency and productivity.

In that sense, the OR-over-IP approach is already bearing fruit today for a growng number of professionals and patients worldwide.

• Reducing setup and turnover time: The productivity of surgical teams and the efficient use of the OR depends on easy and flexible scheduling of cases and on the time required for their preparation and technology setup. However, by bringing more technology into the OR, the setup and configuration before surgeries have become increasingly complex and time-consuming. Because it offers a standard architecture, the OR-over-IP approach simplifies installation and reduces set-up time.
• Streamlining treatment: An OR that is crammed with equipment – navigation devices, machine-controlled applications, PACS equipment – significantly contributes to the stress levels of the OR staff. By running the OR technology over IP, less cables and devices are needed, which allows for a much cleaner and comfortable working environment, in which surgeons can make quick and accurate decisions.
• Reducing downtime due to technical maintenance: With an increasing number of devices and cables, the OR risks becoming a complex hodgepodge of technology that is hard to maintain. Time spent on technical maintenance cannot be used for surgery. An IP-based OR platform can make the job of maintenance personnel a lot easier. By using unified fiber cabling that connects directly to the devices, cable clutter can be reduced and errors during maintenance can be avoided.