Why SDC benefits hospital operators?

cost control through use of different systems in one integrated environment without being bound long-term to a specific manufacturer
overview of systems used, including early information about faults and maintenance
optimisation of clinical routines, leading to reduction of costs
better legal position through better documentation
safe transmission of critical information beyond manufacturer boundaries
improved process management through availability of data.

SDC grants hospital operators more flexibility and thus technical and economic independence when purchasing medical equipment and medical IT solutions. In the future, the SDC approach will facilitate safe, cross-manufacturer combination of systems in the OR and related interdisciplinary hospital departments, such as OR management, nursing, intensive care and CSSD. The efficiency and effectivity of device and system integration in the OR and hospital are essential parameters which must be met. This is the only way to ensure high-quality, quality-assured and cost-efficient patient care.

Comprehensive data transparency and integration in the OR will, for example, open up a new dimension of cost transparency in the treatment of patients.

The chance to document from the data how each device and system is used in the treatment of specific diseases and clinical pictures for each individual patient, to follow this use over the entire course of the treatment, and finally to compare the data with the reimbursement of costs by the health insurance companies, will give hospital operators a whole new level of case-based costing.

In the future, expensive stand-alone solutions will be eliminated, along with concomitant complications for clinical staff. Through the use of SDC, hospital processes will be further optimised and additional costs saved. Hospitals with an eye to the future are already inviting tenders in a bid to expand their medical systems to meet the SDC standards.

Dr. Armin Will, Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, Spokesperson of the Operator Board of OR.NET

“Users and hospital operators will only successfully implement systems and concepts in practice if their requirements are met [2]. Usability, efficiency and effectivity of device and system integration in the OR and hospital are essential parameters which must be met. This is the only way to ensure high-quality, quality-assured and cost-efficient patient care. With its approach of standardised interoperability, OR.NET promises to generate this added value in hospitals. […]

A sustainable expansion of system interoperability in the OR through OR.NET will generate new process and patient paths […].

Standardised communication facilitates differentiated process management. As early as the surgery planning stage, the OR manager can establish the availability of the necessary components for the intervention: stringent planning reliability and effectivity become possible. Monitoring and controlling of all devices by surgeons at their sterile point of concentration reduces communication and workflow errors by OR staff, and a new level of safety in OR communication is reached.

OR.NET raises medical device management and operation to new levels of quality and safety […]

With comprehensive data transparency in the OR, standardised OR integration will open up a new dimension of cost transparency in the treatment of patients. The chance to document from the data how each device and system is used in the treatment of specific diseases and clinical pictures for each individual patient, to follow this use over the entire course of the treatment, and finally to compare the data with the reimbursement of costs by the health insurance companies, will give hospital operators a whole new level of case-based costing.”

(Source: original German text in: Czaplik M et al. (2018): Why OR.NET? Requirements and
perspectives from a medical user’s, clinical operator’s and device manufacturer’s points of view.
Biomed Tech (Berl) 63:5–10. doi: 10.1515/bmt-2017-0043)