Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008 - (Page 9)

› Mulling over modular set-up? Several companies offer the ability to set up temporary, modular cath labs. This option addresses a couple scenarios, says James Easter, director of the healthcare planning department at HFR Architecture Engineering in Brentwood, Tenn. For example, if a facility is trying to determine whether it has enough business to warrant the investment of new cath labs, they can essentially go modular as a short-term test. Typically, facilities with a full-time cardiologist and a strong, growing cardiac program should create a heart center, says Easter. Another scenario is one in which the facility is dismantling the current cath lab space to make way for a new heart center. It takes at least a month to install a new cath lab, which is too long for many facilities to go without cardiac services revenue. A modular setup works as an effective interim solutin, he says. year, the number improved to 95 percent. The facility also is about four standard deviations below the mortality rate for acute myocardial infarction of angioplasty patients for its area. “That crystallized it for us as far as what we built and why,” Burke says. “The infrastructure is in place and it has all translated into the outcomes we hoped for.” Home for hybrid care One way to get more out of the cath lab investment is by creating a hybrid space, that is, a cath lab able to perform cardiovascular interventions throughout the body and certain surgical procedures. Hybrid rooms raise some concerns. According to Bruski, a lot of peripheral vascular physicians don’t want to go to cardiology or radiology. They want to do their diagnosis and have the ability to go right to an open procedure in an operating room setting. If you build a good electrophysiology (EP) room, this is possible. That kind of facility runs about $1.5 to $2 million. “A lot of EP labs just break even, so it’s a big decision. You have to look at your payor mix and remember that it takes 10 private-practice physicians to make one cardiologist profitable.” Areas in which the market cannot support cardiac services alone often can succeed by combining cardiology with vascular care. “Tapping both sides of the bench,” however, requires a different mindset and space configuration to accommodate cardiac and vascular cases with the right equipment profile and technology that allows for great images, says Heck. As capital dollars for hospitals get tight and it comes time to replace an older cath lab or radiology specialty suite, many facilities are making the decision not to buy two new sets of equipment but rather asking people to work together in new ways. The hybrid suite allows for both interventional and operative procedures by using equipment that fits both worlds. Turf wars among radiologists and cardiologists are a concern, but the two disciplines have to reach an accord as cardiac care becomes more collaborative and less invasive. “Having interventional radiologists and cardiologists working out of the same lab is something hospitals have to overcome,” says Heck. “I think programs that have done it are delivering better care.” In their new space, South Shore Hospital wanted to eliminate disparate services between departments and isolated components Marion General hospital saved space by creating a combined monitoring area for two new cath labs and a shared supply area. CardiovascularBusiness.com Cardiovascular Business http://CardiovascularBusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008

Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008 Table of Contents First Word Cover Story: Planning for the Ideal Cath Lab Requires the Multidisciplinary Approach Clinical Study Digest: Cell Phone Technology Speeds Ecgs As Real-Time 3d Echo Matures, It Finds a Clinical Niche Ecg Image Management Brings Increased Productivity and Confidence Overcoming Barriers to Cath Lab Inventory Control Maximizing Reimbursement, Minimizing Penalties News & Views Calendar Reader Resources The Back Page

Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008

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