Requests Purchasing Second da Vinci XI Robot. Robotic-Assisted Surgery Improves Patient Outcomes and Supports Recruitment and Retention of Talented Clinicians, Making it a Priority Even in Challenging Financial Times
Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has submitted a request to the Green Mountain Care Board for a Certificate of Need that would allow the hospital to expand its robotic surgical services to meet patient needs through the purchase of an additional da Vinci XI robotic surgical system. Robotic-assisted surgery in areas such as gynecological, urological, thoracic, colorectal, ENT and bariatric specialties can lead to better overall surgical outcomes for patients and reduce blood loss, complications, scarring and length of stay in the hospital.
If the purchase is approved, UVM Medical Center will have two of the robots in simultaneous use, more than doubling the number of these types of surgeries that can be performed in Burlington each year, advancing the UVM Health Network’s efforts to improve access to the highest quality specialty care, and supporting efforts to recruit talented clinical staff.
Under Vermont’s regulatory structure, health care organizations must seek approval via a Certificate of Need from the Board for the purchase of a single piece of equipment if its cost exceeds $1,682,693. The purchase price of the new da Vinci XI robot is $2.42 million.
The submission comes after months of planning, assessment of patient need, and careful financial considerations, and the robot would be operational three to six months after the application’s approval.
“Robotic-assisted surgery has become the standard for many procedures,” said UVM Medical Center President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Leffler, MD. “With the single machine we currently have, we are unable to keep up with our patient needs, which has meant patients either have to wait or travel out of state for their surgical procedures. Acquiring another da Vinci robot is aligned with our mission as a tertiary care and teaching hospital.”
Availability of robotic-assisted surgery is essential to attracting talented surgeons, nurses and other clinical staff, and for training medical residents at Vermont’s only teaching hospital. UVM Medical Center has recently recruited two cardiothoracic surgeons to meet patient needs in the region, both of whom will require use of the robots.
Procedures currently performed on a da Vinci robot have a shorter post-operative recovery time in the hospital, so doing more surgeries robotically would also help improve access to much-needed inpatient bed space, while getting patients home more quickly.
The purchase of the additional robot will benefit patients by improving care, reducing recovery times and expanding access to high quality care. As the organization works to stabilize its finances, it must also consider whether a service adds to or subtracts from the operating margin, which is how nonprofit organizations invest in people, facilities and equipment. Largely due to cost avoidance from shortened length of stay compared to other types of surgery, the use of the additional robot is expected to generate a modest positive margin.
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a 447-bed tertiary care regional referral center providing advanced care to approximately 1 million residents in Vermont and northern New York. Together with our partners at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, we are Vermont’s academic medical center. The University of Vermont Medical Center also serves as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, an integrated system established to deliver high quality academic medicine to every community we serve.
For more information visit www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter or visit our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog sites at www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenterSocialMedia.
9.16.222. Burlington, Vt. – University of Vermont Medical Center