The Four Peaks Surgery Center in Sun City, Arizona, now exclusively uses Galaxy II retractors for its urology and urogynaecology procedures and has halved retractor costs as a result.
Kriston Bertelsen, Surgical Technologist and Assistant Administrator at the centre, explains why she switched to the Galaxy II.
Introducing…
Four Peaks is a privately-owned, Banner Health-affiliated urological and urogynaecological surgical centre serving a practice of 14 primary care offices that refer patients from the Phoenix area for specialist consultations. The centre offers an attractive, cost-effective model of private care, primarily because it is dealing with far fewer patients on a daily basis than larger hospitals – 17-18 compared to hundreds. Kriston said: “We pride ourselves on high standards and continually monitor patient satisfaction very closely, making sure that we keep our ratings high at 97 per cent or more. We literally scrutinise every single comment and people love us!”
The mounting costs of disposables
A significant disadvantage of being a privately-owned specialist centre is that it doesn’t receive the same level of reimbursement that hospitals do. Kriston explained: “It is crucial for us to keep a keen eye on costs and try to keep margins as low as possible to balance being able to offer competitive pricing with keeping the centre financially viable. Although I am a certified surgical technician and regularly assist with procedures, my role here has evolved to include purchasing, billing and negotiating costs from suppliers where possible.”
“The cost of retractors came to my attention a few years ago. They are an important tool to use during our procedures, because they free up the hands of the technician assisting the surgeon, and are very efficient at clearing the surgical site – they can retract in eight directions whereas I only have two hands. However, the cost of the retractors we were using was extremely high for single-use disposable items, and so I looked around for more cost-effective alternatives.”
Finding a better, cheaper option
Kriston found JUNE Medical’s Galaxy II from an online search and hasn’t looked back. She added: “I discovered the Galaxy II retractor and was amazed to discover that it is nearly half the cost of the product we had previously used, which is hugely significant for us. I was even more surprised to find that it is actually a better product too and, most importantly, the nine top tier surgeons who routinely come here are very happy with it. To start with, it is a lot more malleable, making it easier to bend into place, and fits well against our patients in a lithotomy position, exposing the vaginal area and perineum, and simultaneously holding the drape pocket. The clips then lock the retractor into place on either side, and the hooks also work really well; I attach the tissue, hand the band to the surgeon and they can slide it to wherever it needs to be, which wasn’t possible with the previous retractor we used.”
A great deal all round
“We’ve been using the Galaxy II Snowman retractors for some time now, and the support we get from the company is great. Whenever I reach out and place an order, I get an immediate response and stock shows up in a timely fashion. Even through the COVID crisis, we haven’t had any supply chain issues, which is quite impressive considering the current environment. Overall, this has been an amazing cost-saving measure for us, as well providing us with a great product.”
