Are multidisciplinary scopes the right choice for your ORs? Read on for insiders' views on how you might benefit from scopes that cross specialty boundaries.

Across the board
The expansion of services at multi-specialty centers created the market for multi-specialty scopes, says Edie Hewlett, vice president of Endure Medical, a Cumming, Ga.-based microscope dealer. "Before, surgeons did their most complex cases at the hospital. Now those cases are migrating to ASCs," she says. As a result, there's a need for equipment that can support a range of cases across specialties.

There's a catch, though. "Microscopes are built around the anatomy they're designed to treat," says Kevin Cooley, western regional manager for Prescott's, a scope sales and service firm in Monument, Colo. While ENT, spine, neuro and plastic microscopy use similar magnification, working distances and illumination, they require different optical orientations, he says. Spine surgeons, for example, work face-to-face with assistants, while ENT surgeons have them at their sides.

But multidisciplinary scopes' optics can be reconfigured to accommodate each specialty's needs. For example, you can convert an OPMI Vario 700 from one configuration to another in minutes "given the ability to auto-balance the system," says Victor Chan, a marketing manager for Carl Zeiss Meditec.

The scopes don't shortchange users. "You're not asking surgeons to compromise on the features and technology of their scope," says Chuck McGurn, a product manager for Leica Microsystems, which offers the M525 F50 scope. "Nobody has to take a back seat to the specialties that dominate the schedule or generate the most revenue."

Like the Zeiss and Leica systems, Seiler Precision Microscopes' Evolution Zoom also serves ENT, spine and plastic cases. And Moeller-Wedel International's Allegra 590, slated for introduction later this year, features tilt and light management functions that let a surgical scope accommodate ophthalmology cases, a feat that eye surgery's specific requirements had long rendered impractical.

Multidisciplinary scopes are a budget-friendly approach to capital equipment. New multi-specialty facilities or those considering an expansion of services could particularly benefit, says Mr. McGurn. "If you don't have the financing to invest in special equipment for each specialty, the multidisciplinary microscope can get you up and running while you test the waters and start generating revenue."

Plus, buying one multitasking scope instead of dedicated scopes for each specialty consolidates the operational costs of training, maintenance and accessories, while economizing on floor space and equipment storage.

"A single investment in a scope that meets each specialty's needs can cover all your bases economically," says Ms. Hewlett, but there's a potential drawback: scheduling conflicts, especially if your multi-specialty center is busy. "Can you allow enough time for all of your surgeons to gain access to the system?"

One size fits all
Be aware, too, that acquiring a fleet of one-size-fits-all scopes might not be the solution that fits an established facility's needs. "Most times, a multi-specialty center will end up wanting to support each specialty separately with its own equipment," says Mr. Cooley. "A multidisciplinary surgical microscope may have features that physicians are not comfortable using, or take away features that they're accustomed to."

For example, both he and Ms. Hewlett note, even as spine, neuro and plastic surgeons have made motorized microscope controls and electromagnetic brakes standard features, many ENT surgeons still prefer manual functions, with nothing electrified besides the lighting.

"Would they be happy using a spine surgery microscope?" asks Mr. Cooley. "If we had the choice, why give the ENT docs more features than they want or need?"

Buying a microscope is a lot like buying a car, he says. "It's tough to say that one particular vehicle is going to satisfy anybody who wants to use it." While a multi-specialty scope is likely to satisfy one specialty's surgeons, it might not satisfy them all, says Mr. Cooley, so do your research.

"You can't talk about multidisciplinary scopes until you talk about the procedures you're doing, figure out their needs and how they change across the specialties," he says.