OR of the future

Operating rooms are the heart of any hospital.  Johns Hopkins Hospital has 33 ORs; Mayo Clinic, 87 in Rochester; Cleveland Clinic, 100   These are also the chief revenue generators and cost centers.  This piece from IBM describes the forces and opportunities of change in hospital surgery: “. . .  the days of the hospital as we know it may be numbered. In a shift away from their traditional inpatient facilities, healthcare providers are investing in outpatient clinics, same-day surgery centers, free-standing emergency rooms, and micro-hospitals, which offer as few as eight beds for overnight stays. They are setting up programs that monitor people 24/7 in their own homes. And they are turning to digital technology to treat and keep tabs on patients remotely from a high-tech hub. One of the key drivers of outpatient migration—and the most important trend in surgery across the past three decades—has been the shift toward minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques. OR design has evolved in concert with minimally invasive surgery, resulting in integrated MIS suites with streamlined equipment and image-visualization technology.” MORE

Image Credit:  alan9187 from Pixabay