Cardiovascular Business - September/October 2008 - (Page 32) Device UpDate › By Justine Cadet Contrast Agent Delivery Systems: Sophistication Meets Cost Savings today’s contrast delivery systems are no longer just power injectors. they are an integral part of any cardiovascular practice, delivering time and cost savings by ensuring precise timing and consistent and reproducible images. IN THE CATH LAB workflow for the cath lab. In a study led by Craig Lehman, PhD, from the Health Science Center, State University of New York at The use of automated contrast delivery systems in the cath Stony Brook, researchers found that power contrast injection in lab varies, and yet, their necessity and reliability are consisthe cath lab is about 31 percent (or five minutes) more efficient tently touted. than the traditional manual method in terms of procedure room Lawrence Luce, director of cath lab services at Mount Carmel workflow (J Inv Card 2005;17[2]:118-122). Specifically, when “both coronary angiography and ventriculography are performed, “previously, i would report the five-minutes time saving is realized in procedure room activities, including (four approximately 150 to 200 milminutes) shorter arterial times, a more liliters of iodinated contrast, streamlined contrast injection set-up (one minute) and reduced contrast waste,” acand now it’s routine to report cording to Lehman et al. 100—approaching a 50 percent reduction from case to case.” Pecuniary advantage Richard d. White, Md, radiology chair at the university of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, Fla. East in Columbus, Ohio, which has four cath labs, says that his facility performs about 85 to 90 procedures a week utilizing Covidien injectors. Most often, he says the systems are used for cardiac ventriculography, aortic root injections and some peripheral vascular interventions. “Contrast injectors are a necessary part of our daily operations—in order to obtain full opacification of the ventricle—as well as for other procedures,” Luce says. He adds that the systems cut down on waste by enabling optimal opacification with a reduced amount of contrast. Some studies have found that the systems also manage to assist Luce notes that savings on contrast do not only provide a clinical benefit, but a pecuniary advantage as well. In fact, Lehman et al found that a power injection system set-up with the multi-case contrast syringe can potentially save about 130 mL of contrast ($45.50) for each normal diagnostic case. The study also said that if the facility has three cath labs, the annualized additional revenue rises to $794,772 with the use of automated systems. Joanna Wessel, RN, clinical supervisor of the cath labs and interventional unit at St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, Ohio, which has three cath labs (with Covidien injectors) and performs approximately 65 procedures weekly, suggests that her facility has difficulty gauging its cost savings because a bottle of contrast is opened for each patient. The center has looked into using bulk contrast, but found that the cost savings were 32 cardiovascular Business September/October 2008
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