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Your Guide to Selling New Medical Equipment to Value Analysis Committees

In the past, sales reps who wanted to pitch a new medical device or piece of medical equipment to a hospital or other medical provider usually approached the doctors at the practice. As with other types of sales, it was the job of the rep to woo and win over the doctors. A rep not only wanted to show a team of doctors how the equipment he or she was selling was better, he or she usually also wanted to get on the doctor’s good side.

Sales combined having a solid pitch for a product and having a little something extra to offer the medical team, such as fantastic seats at a sporting event or tickets to an upcoming play or concert. But changes to health care policy and health care reform have meant changes to the way sales reps can sell to institutions.

For example, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which is part of the Affordable Care Act, passed with the intention of making the financial connection between physicians or hospitals and the companies that produce medical devices and equipment more transparent. Essentially, if a company compensates a physician or hospital in any way, such as by giving him or her a free pair of concert tickets or by buying a medical department lunch, it needs to report that information. The details of the compensation then get published in a database that’s open to the public.

The reason for highlighting any possible financial connections between medical providers and medical equipment companies is that doing so can illuminate any conflicts of interest a doctor or hospital might have when it comes to recommending or purchasing a product. For example, a patient might be more hesitant to consider a particular procedure if he or she learns the doctor received a large bonus or another incentive for purchasing and recommending the devices needed to perform that procedure.

Additionally, exposing the potential connections between providers and medical equipment companies to the public could help lower health care costs. When physicians make recommendations purely based on what benefits their bottom line, they might end up suggesting products that are more costly than other options. Discouraging those incentives by publishing them in an accessible database could potentially lower health care costs.

Another significant change in the way sales reps have begun selling new medical equipment to hospitals regards who the reps end up pitching. In another effort to reduce health care costs, many institutions and hospitals now have what is known as value analysis committees. Now, instead of only directing their sales pitches to doctors, sale reps and medical equipment manufacturers need to participate in a value analysis process that ultimately gets their product up for review by an entire room full of people.

What Is the Value Analysis Committee?

In short, the value analysis committee acts as the gatekeeper to the hospital. It determines what new products the hospital or institution will acquire, and whether those products will replace equipment the hospital already uses.

To minimize conflict and the feeling that the committee could potentially work against the interests of certain hospital staff, it is usually made up of employees from several areas of a hospital. Although the exact makeup of the committee will vary from institution to institution, value analysis committee members typically include:

• Doctors
• Nursing staff members
• Administrators
• Purchasing staff
• Liability agents
• Supply chain management staff

Along with the structure of the value analysis committee, the size of the committee can vary from hospital to hospital, and can even change from one year to the next at the same hospital. For example, UCLA Health’s current committee contains 25 members. Although the significant requirement for joining the committee is that a person is an employee of the hospital system, UCLA’s policy also requires at least one person from each of the following areas to be a member of the committee:

• Administration
• Purchasing
• Finance
• Nursing
• Medical staff

Another factor that influences who will be on the committee or the size of the committee is the size and type of the hospital. A smaller, independent hospital might have a value analysis committee for each department, made up of doctors and administrators from that department. Hospital systems and larger institutions often have a single, larger value analysis committee, made up of staff members from several departments.

Why VACs Exist

Hospital value analysis committees are becoming more and more common for several reasons. Healthcare reform, specifically the Affordable Care Act, and changes in how hospitals receive reimbursement, have caused many institutions to pay closer attention to costs and to explore potential ways of reducing costs.

One way value analysis committees can help hospitals reduce costs is by ensuring the hospitals will regularly use the products they purchase. Institutions don’t want to spend money on a pricey new medical device, only to discover an older model it already owned works better.

Another way a committee can help to reduce costs is by encouraging bidding from competitors. When sales reps focused on winning over physicians, the process of selling to hospitals was much more informal. Now that many places use committees, a formal process often accompanies a sales pitch, which typically involves the completion of forms and the necessity of pointing out not only the medical but also administrative, benefits of a device or piece of equipment.

Cost-cutting isn’t the only reason VACs exist. The committees can potentially provide a series of other benefits to the hospitals and institutions they serve. Those benefits include:

• Improving patient safety — Patient safety has been a significant concern in health care in recent years, and many hospitals are taking whatever steps they can to improve it and to reduce patient risk. Part of the thinking behind having a committee to evaluate and approve or deny the purchase of any new medical devices or equipment is that having consensus and a variety of points of view can lead to an increase in patient safety. For example, having a committee of doctors from a range of different specializations can help ensure they’ve covered all the bases when it comes to evaluating the safety and efficacy of a medical device.

• Improving transparency in sales— Along with the Physicians Payments Sunshine Act, using a value analysis committee to make purchasing decisions for a hospital can help make the sales process more transparent. Some hospitals are implementing specific, detailed policies their committees must use when evaluating a product and when deciding to approve or reject a proposal.

• Improving impartiality of product acquisitions— A value analysis committee is one example of when it can be beneficial to have a multitude of voices. The more perspectives a committee has, the more likely it is to be impartial when evaluating whether or not to move forward with a purchase. When only one or two people are the decision-makers, it is much easier for bias to enter into the equation.

Why Sales Reps Need to Care About the VAC

The most significant reason a sales representative needs to care about and learn how to interact with value analysis committees is that, for the time being at least, these committees are the future. Value analysis is a new process, as the first instance of the phrase didn’t appear until 1977. Nowadays, the majority of hospitals have VACs in place, with a vast majority of them introducing a committee within the past decade.

Since the process of pitching to and interacting with a committee, versus communicating with doctors directly, is considerably different, reps who hope to continue to make sales need to learn how to adapt and adjust to the expectations of hospital value analysis policies.

Strategies for Medical Device Manufacturers to Address Hospital Value Analysis

Figuring out how to navigate the process of interacting with a value analysis committee can be an uphill climb for some sales reps and manufacturers, especially if they are used to working with just one or two doctors. The first step to figuring out how to navigate the process is to learn what methods a value analysis committee uses when evaluating a new device or piece of medical equipment.

The VAC Process

Although the specific requirements and processes of a committee might vary from institution to institution, generally speaking, the VAC process might look like this.

Step 1: Data Gathering

During the first step or phase, the committee will want to learn as much as it can about a medical device or piece of equipment. Members of the committee might review the literature about the device, such as white papers or case studies, or they might look at the results of clinical trials involving the equipment, if available. They might also look at opinions offered by third-party evaluators, such as Hayes, ECRI and MD Buyline, to get a sense of how the product performs.

The data-gathering phase can also include an assessment of how the new medical device will benefit the hospital. For example, the committee might look at how a new piece of equipment will reduce costs or improve the standard of care offered to patients. If the product replaces something the hospital already uses, the committee might compare the two products. It will look to see if the new product offers a considerable advantage over the existing one.

Step 2: Initial Negotiation

Depending on the approach the value analysis committee is taking, once it decides to move forward with the potential purchase of a product, it will often begin a period of initial negotiations. During that time, it might issue a request for proposals, outlining what it is seeking. It might look at a list of vendors and sales reps it has existing relationships with and directly approach those companies. During the initial negotiations, the committee will often outline what sort of pricing it anticipates, and what type of services and features it is looking for.

Step 3: Trial Run

The third step in the VAC process is often a trial run involving the product or device. How the trials pan out depends in large part on the products. It is up to the value analysis committee to outline who will test the devices, where to test the devices and how best to evaluate the products at the end of the trial.

When the trial concludes, usually the member of the committee who oversaw the tests and trials presents the findings to the committee. If the trial had a positive outcome, this person is usually going to be responsible for highlighting the good features of the device, including what products it can replace.

Step 4: Final Approval/Rejection

The last step in the process involves the committee voting to approve the new device or deciding to reject it in favor of the current method of doing things, or of a competitor’s device. Even if the committee decides to approve the device, that might not be the end of the road.

In some cases, the decision to purchase the device might move to an even higher-up committee or to hospital executives, who have the final say on whether or not to move forward with the purchase.

What to Keep in Mind When Interacting With a VAC

Medical device manufacturers and sales reps can use several strategies when addressing hospital value analysis committees, making an initial pitch or filling out the initial paperwork for a committee.

One strategy is to focus on providing the specific information a committee wants and needs to know about a product. For example, here are a few questions many VACs have about medical device value analysis:

• Does this replace something the hospital already uses?
• Is this device safe?
• What is the device made of?
• Will the device improve the quality of care the hospital can provide to patients?
• How much does the device cost?

Before a device manufacturer or sales rep makes contact with a VAC, it is important to do some research on the committee.  First, it helps to understand the role or function of the committee, as that does vary from hospital to hospital. For example, some committees contain members from a single department, while others have a membership that represents a more diverse mix of hospital staff.

You also want to keep the individual roles of each VAC member in mind. For example, some will be clinicians who are likely to use a medical device or piece of equipment. Others are administrators who perform a mostly supervisory role. Still, others might be from the financial department of a hospital, and others from procurement, meaning they have an insider’s point of view when it comes to vendors. Putting together some bios and having at least a little bit of information on each member of the committee can help you decide which approach to take when interacting with them.

It’s also important to have an understanding of the products the VAC reviews. Some committees only review medical devices, while others might be responsible for assessing and reviewing all equipment the hospital purchases.

In many cases, finding one committee member to champion the device or equipment you are trying to sell can be helpful for getting a committee to consider your product.

What to Provide the VAC

The more information you’re about to provide a value analysis committee, and the more engaging and well-presented the information is, the more likely you are going to be to convince them to support or purchase your device or equipment. Knowing what the committee wants and who they are can help you determine what you need to give them.

First, it’s a good idea to proactively provide answers to their questions before they ever ask you. For example, it’s very likely the committee will look a new piece of equipment and wonder if something the hospital currently uses performs the same function.

The answer to that is probably yes, but it’s your job to convince the VAC your device performs better than existing products. To do that, you can provide comparison charts that highlight how the features of your company’s device are an improvement on devices already on the market. Your documentation might focus on:

• How the equipment/device is more effective than similar products on the market
• How the device is a better/higher quality than competitors 
• What your device does differently from similar product
• How your device is safer or offers better control of infections compared to other products

Providing the committee with statistics and figures to back up your statements is imperative, as you need to be able to prove that your product does what you are claiming it does. If there have been clinical trials involving the product you are selling, provide the committee with copies of the results of those trials. While they can find out that information on their own, being upfront about it will help you make a better impression.

It also helps to consider the specific needs of hospitals in this day and age and how a piece of equipment or device meets those needs. For example, it’s becoming increasingly common for hospitals to be latex-free. If the product you are promoting is latex-free, that information can attract the attention of the committee, pushing you to the front of the list.

Remember, cost is a huge consideration for many hospitals and their value analysis committees. Make things easier for the committee by telling them the price of the device or equipment, as well as the cost of ownership. You can take things a step further by also providing a cost-benefit analysis and by providing figures that demonstrate the potential return on investment for the device.

You might also consider giving the committee details and information on the best use of the product. For example, include an explanation of how it works and how to store it. If the product requires regular maintenance and care, include the specifics on that, such as how frequently the manufacturer recommends servicing the equipment, and whether hospital staff can maintain it on their own.

Any time a hospital introduces new devices or equipment — or, in the case of administrative technology, introduces a new tool to use for workflow and filing — there is a period of education. Be sure to include details on the necessary training for the device, including whether the manufacturer provides training and if that training can take place onsite.

Remember You Are Still Marketing

With the increased use of VACs at hospitals around the U.S., the face of who medical device manufacturers and sales reps are marketing to might have changed. The processes of pitching and getting a product into a hospital might be more complex.

But remember that at the end of the day, you are still marketing a product. When presenting a new medical device, any tools you can use to make your presentation more engaging and attention-grabbing can help your cause and help convince VACs to work with your company.

For example, 3D animation video can provide hospital committee members with a clear, easy-to-remember overview of a device or piece of equipment. At the end of a long day reviewing bids and project pitches, members of a committee are going to be more likely to recall the animation they saw, compared to the hundreds of stats and figures they read in brochure after brochure.

Ghost Productions has been producing animations and interactive media to break down and explain complex medical concepts since 1994. To learn more about how animation can help you perfect a pitch to a VAC, contact us today.

Attention Interns! Ghost Productions is Hiring!!

Ghost Productions is seeking a motivated and positive individual to support our creative studio as an intern. This paid position will focus on assisting the Ghost Studio with the creation of a new visual content library.

Duties:

Catalog/Data entry. Position will focus primarily on cataloging previously created content for use within visual content library.

Skills:

Strong organizational, communication, and time management skills.

Basic knowledge and ability in After Effects is a must.

Ability to manage multiple tasks at a time simultaneously.

Recap

• Paid internship
• Work short days ( 1 to 3 hours a day )

We have super-flexible core hours that allow you to work when you are at your most productive, free highly-caffeinated beverages, opportunities for travel for continuing education, free parking, Herman Miller Chairs, ergonomic desks, a scary-powerful render farm, and freedom to work on your own ideas after-hours.

*This position description does not state or imply that the above are the only duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Employees holding this position will be required to perform any other job- related duties as requested.

If interested in the position, please send your resume to leo@ghostproductions.com

Thrombus Retrieval Systems

3D animation is extremely useful regarding thrombus retrieval systems and how a qualified surgeon performs a mechanical thrombectomy using a blood clot removal device. What is described in so many words can be better explained using 3D animation. Read below to learn how 3D animation serves as a powerful tool for surgeons and patients.

Thrombus Retrieval Systems

Take thrombus retrieval as an example. “Thrombus” is the medical term for a blood clot. A blood clot can occur almost anywhere in the body. For example, an injury to the leg, which is common, can cause that part of the body to bleed internally, and for a blood clot to form from the bleeding.

A blood clot, normally, is the body’s self-defense against excessive bleeding. Nobody would survive for long if they started to bleed out, and if a blood clot did not form to stop the bleeding. This is a natural process of the body’s self-defense against excessive bleeding. However, this may cause unpredictable problems.

Let’s say, for example, a blood clot happens in a leg because of a trauma to the leg that causes it to bleed internally. Now, the blood clot is helpful because it stops any further internal bleeding of the leg due to the injury. After that, it becomes potentially harmful. The blood clot can break free of the area where it was doing its best to help stop the blood flow, and then escape through the blood vessels to other areas — where it can do a lot of harm.

A blood clot is supposed to stop bleeding. However, when it arrives at a restricted area, it may become an effective blockage of the blood supply needed for a healthy life.

This is one of the main causes for stroke. A blood clot dislodged from another area travels through the blood stream to arrive in an area that feeds the blood to the brain. Essentially, this blood clot blocks the normal transmission of blood to the brain, producing a stroke.

Help Patients Visualize a Mechanical Thrombectomy via 3D Animation

Now, why did we say that a 3D video for this process was so much easier to understand? Because, we can show these complicated topics in a few seconds using 3D animation. Additionally, the treatment of how to remove these blood clots is amazing and easily shown in 3D animation. With this tool, it is possible to show a blood clot retrieval device utilized in optimized clot retrieval. This can help give a patient supreme confidence as well as the surgeon performing the surgery. Everyone who can see the results of a successful operation will be guided to become effective and create the desired solution.

Imagine how easy this is to show to your clients and practitioners with a 3D animation when compared to the lengthy text description we have just outlined.

Think of these images that can be shown by 3D animation:

1. A blood clot forms.
2. It dislodges and breaks free.
3. It flows through the bloodstream.
4. It gets caught in an area that can cause harm by blocking blood flow.
5. The procedure to remove it is fast, effective and useful.
6. Removal of the blood clot restores normal blood flow to the critical areas where it is needed for the blood to flow, for example, the arteries that supply the brain.

Patients experiencing thrombus complications need to understand the thrombus retrieval systems so they can benefit from a mechanical thrombectomy and have confidence by thoroughly understanding the procedure. As leaders in the field, Ghost Productions 3D animation videos help explain complex medical and surgical processes. We are experts at creating these and other animated cardiology videos. To see how a 3D animation can assist in explaining complex medical procedures, contact Ghost Productions today.

The Benefits of Medical Illustrations

Medical illustration is fascinating. It offers a way to accurately look at the human body, represented through anatomy illustrations. These colorful depictions of accurate anatomy created by illustrators at medical illustration companies like Ghost Productions are extremely helpful in showing complex biological information. These illustrations are frequently used to promote health care services and products because of their powerful depiction of these complex concepts.

There is such care taken in creating these aesthetically pleasing medical drawings as a scientific illustration that they become a vital educational tool for current patients, potential patients and health care providers.

Medical Illustrations Inform and Educate

A good biomedical illustration informs and educates. Many studying to become health care providers learn anatomy first by reviewing a biological illustration. In this way, they become familiar with the details of the anatomy so that when they experience working on these issues with real patients, they already have a good idea about what they are dealing with, from what they learned by reviewing the biomedical illustration.

Patients are much more comfortable looking at attractive illustrations rather than only reading big blocks of potentially somewhat incomprehensible text. For private parts of their bodies, an illustration allows patients to examine the details without feeling embarrassed about looking at photos. Anatomy illustration can have a more general nature and not be limited to the specific photo of one particular person.

Sectors and Slices

Biomedical illustrations show different sectors and/or layers of slices from that part of the body, so that the relationship between the pieces is demonstrated effectively. Like peeling the layers of an onion, medical drawings show the relationships between the layers that are above and below one another or in close proximity to one another in the body. Colors are used to differentiate between the layers, and this is clearer than what might be seen when viewing real specimens.

Medical Illustration Companies

Medical illustrators creating drawings for the top illustration companies need to be creative, artistic and science-oriented. Their job is to make the most accurate representation of what scientific researchers, health care workers and patients will use to gain the most benefit from thoroughly understanding intimate details.

Sometimes the items represented in a medical illustration will be so small that they could not be seen using the naked eye. These illustrations give a comprehensive view of what something might look like if examined by using a very powerful microscope. One effective use on the micro level is to show the mechanism of action of pharmaceutical agents.

Historical Information From Geographically Diverse Areas

Medical illustrations capture a moment in time. Just like the famous naturalist Charles Darwin made extensive illustrations of what he discovered on his travels when preparing his book, “The Origin of Species,” biological illustrations make a record of what the researcher was able to view. This makes a historical record for future generations.

Additionally, disease outcomes, progression and potential treatments can be studied by researchers all over the world using illustrations. The main importance of medical illustrations is that they are a vital resource to convey important medical information that is easier to understand by showing it as a drawing rather than by only describing it with text.

Medicals illustrations have a long, revered history in the medical profession, nursing, the pharmaceutical industry and in health care education. The wonderful usefulness of these illustrations means they will still be important for quite some time. Connect with the creative team at Ghost Productions for your next project. We love making them and pride ourselves in creating illustrations that are both accurate and beautiful.

3D Animated Marketing Videos: The New Medical Sales Tool

Medical animations are useful to help illustrate concepts, demonstrate medical theories, explain the protocols of treatment processes, and show detailed anatomy or physiology. Three-dimensional animations are also used in other health-related areas for medical simulations that can be viewed in an interactive manner.

Here are some of the excellent uses for medical animations that help pharmaceutical sales reps:

Information for Patients: Educational Videos

Patients are more comfortable undergoing procedures to install medical devices or take pharmaceuticals when they are shown an explanation about them. The description gives information in an easy-to-understand and dynamic way using 3D medical animations. Additionally, patients are able to retain more of the information by watching these educational videos than they get from written literature or brochures.

Training for Staff: Continuing Education Videos About Pharmaceuticals

Health care professionals have a continuing need to be informed of the latest treatment protocols and procedures because of the ongoing innovations in patient care. Continuing education videos created using 3D animation are attractive, interesting and enjoyable to watch. Interactive training programs are possible that allow the viewer to change the playback of the video, zoom in on details of interest, get more information about specifics that are shown, and proceed through the learning materials at their own pace.

Sales Presentations: Animated Sales Videos

Animated sales videos in 3D can be used to create compelling messages. Pharmaceutical companies routinely use 3D medical animations to demonstrate the efficacy of their drugs and show the mechanism of action. These animations are an excellent way to show how medical devices work. Many potential clients prefer to watch 3D animated sales videos when compared to reading sales literature.

The salesperson who visits physicians in their offices, clinics or hospitals can show these animated sales videos via laptop. Everyone who is in pharmaceutical or medical sales knows that clients and physicians are very busy and need clear, succinct information — delivered in an engaging way. Animated sales videos excel in this regard as sales tools.

Prototype Demonstrations: Animated Explainer Videos

Medical animations are extremely useful to demonstrate prototype designs for product innovations, especially the areas that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Cutaways are a very popular way to show the exterior and interior of something, whether it be a part of human anatomy or a medical device.

These 3D animated explainer videos can rotate a device, show it in use from different angles, and zoom in or out on the objects. Since they are made in high definition, the resolution is crystal clear regardless of the scale. Therefore, the same animated explainer videos can be shown on a laptop for a personal demonstration or projected on a huge screen at a conference or convention for viewing by a large audience.

Digital Marketing: Animated Marketing Videos

Digital marketing is enhanced by using animated marketing videos. They can be put on a website or uploaded to video websites, such as YouTube or Vimeo (specializing in HD videos). Links to these animated marketing videos can be promoted on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These animated marketing videos can also serve as television commercials. Pharmaceutical companies are very successful when they use 3D animations that include a company mascot to promote their major consumer brands.

Illustrate products and processes with 3D animations that cannot be seen with the naked eye. They can be used as a tool to help sales reps and pharmaceutical companies improve sales. They are excellent for training and educational purposes. A well-designed animation may serve for multiple purposes.

Reach out to Ghost Productions for a professional consultation on your next medical animation project.

Medical Messaging and E-Learning with 3D Interactive Media

What is Medical E-Learning?

E-learning for healthcare makes use of interactive 3-D animation to show medical complexities in an easy-to-understand way. E-learning media offers many benefits for medical practices and healthcare organizations. E-learning media has evolved to be one of the best ways for informing patients and healthcare practitioners. Because of this, it is being used in all parts of the medical realm and in the healthcare industry. Here’s how:

E-Learning Enhances Patient Care

Patients are becoming more actively involved in their own healthcare. Many medical conditions can be improved when patients make changes in their lifestyle, such as dietary adjustments and exercise routines.

When patients undergo a procedure, they need guidance about how to prepare, what the procedure will be like, and how to participate in the best ways with good follow-up care. Medical e-learning is a valuable way for patients to learn about these issues. E-learning tools are popular because patients can review the materials at their own pace.

E-Learning as Continuing Education for Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare practitioners have the constant need for continuing education to learn about new treatments and protocols. E-learning is more effective than traditional learning because it is not time or location dependent. What’s more, it makes use of rich media that blends audio, visuals and text in interesting ways to create a more compelling learning experience.

E-Learning Is Portable

E-learning medicine instructions and information can be viewed in the doctor’s office or at the hospital, taken home on portable media such as on a DVD, and/or viewed online. This provides the convenience that accommodates a very busy schedule. Healthcare professionals and patients are able to access the e-learning materials from anywhere via any mobile device.

What are the Benefits of Medical E-Learning?

Some beneficial examples of healthcare e-learning include the following:

• Explanations of how drugs work: 3-D animation is used by pharmaceutical companies to show the mechanism of action for their drugs. These beautiful animations show details that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These animations are useful tools to teach healthcare practitioners about the pharmaceuticals in order to give them a better understanding of how these drugs can be used for patient care.
• Demonstrations of medical devices: E-learning is an effective way to teach healthcare practitioners and patients about new medical devices. Surgeons can see how to perform procedures, and patients can see how the doctor will implant a device. These demonstrations are used effectively for showing joint replacement, heart surgery and valve repairs, and thousands of other medical device applications.
• Reference library: An e-learning system provides a permanent database of materials that can be reviewed as often as desired. The materials can be searched to find answers to specific questions. This resource is helpful for training and becomes increasingly valuable over time as more items are created and made available. If information changes, it can be updated to stay current. Having materials available for new employees in an e-learning reference library is a cost-efficient way to introduce policies and procedures to new hires.

Investment in e-learning systems provides significant benefits for healthcare organizations. A high level of training quality for the professional staff can be maintained. E-learning systems improve patient care and provide better levels of informed consent.

Sources

Top 5 Benefits Of eLearning In The Healthcare Industry

IVC Filter Replacement and Removal

The problem: Blood clots that move from the lower body to the upper body — including moving to the heart, lungs and brain — can do significant damage, causing stroke and life-threatening embolism.

The solution: Ghost Productions created a fantastic, medically accurate 3D animation that demonstrates how using a Denali® filter captures these blood clots and keeps them from moving to parts of the body where they can cause serious harm. The Denali® filter is a vena cava filter that captures these rogue blood clots as they transverse in the circulatory system. The 3D animation produced by Ghost Productions shows how the Denali® filter placement is achieved with a minimally invasive procedure.

Additionally, the inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement allows for IVC filter removal and vena cava filter replacement, as required. In other words, if the Denali® filter captures a blood clot, it can be removed and replaced, thereby preventing any harm from the blood clot moving upward in the circulatory system. This result is almost miraculous, helping to save lives.

For patients who have blood clots produced in the legs and pelvis area, the Denali® filter can be placed in the IVC, which is a large vein in the abdomen that connects the blood from the lower body as it returns to the heart. This filter placement is a preventative measure that helps to stop any problems that might arise from a blood clot flowing upward to cause a pulmonary embolism or blockage of a major blood vessel.

Medical students, professionals and patients can understand how the inferior vena cava filter placement and removal works, as well as comprehend what the process entails by watching the 3D animation created by Ghost Productions. We are proud to be able to show — with unparalleled precision — the implementation of this life-saving device, the ease of its insertion, and its removal and replacement.

The procedure: IVC filters capture these blood clots that come from a condition called deep vein thrombosis (DVT) — helping to reduce the risk of pulmonary embolism by preventing them from reaching the lungs, heart or brain. This therapy has been shown to be extremely successful as a preventative measure to stop any potential damage from renegade blood clots that are floating through the circulatory system.

 Ghost Productions has medically accurate 3D animation of the installation procedure for this medical device and the removal and replacement of the IVC filter, as necessary.

This is just one example of how 3D animations from Ghost Productions are incredibly useful to medical practitioners, medical students and patients to help them understand the effectiveness of such medical devices, as well as how they are installed and replaced.

Contact Ghost Productions for any of your 3D animation needs to show your medical implant devices with outstanding clarity and medical accuracy.

Sources

https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=venacavafilter

Denali®

Unconventionally Comfortable Waiting Room with Suspended Furniture

How we made our office entryway attractive, fun, and comfortable while also creating a relaxing lounge for team members and clients for around $500.

Now that we’ve completed our move into our new studio space, we can focus on updating and outfitting our new office with our own Ghost Productions sense of style. Because our entry way is the first thing that our visitors will see we, decided to start there and make our waiting room a creative space. As with any office update it is important to begin by determining, needs, realizing assets, and setting a budget.

Because we are Ghost and because we desire function and fun over convention, we decided to do away with the standard waiting room chairs and opted for something much cooler. It just so happens that a local company produces these incredibly comfortable and durable hovering chairs in a variety of colors. Check them out at skychairs.com. So we bought a variety of colors and hung them from the beams we made a few days earlier.

Shopping list:

Sky Chairs in assorted colors: $90 x (4) = $360

> 3000 lbs. Rated Carabiner or Quick Link: $4 x (6) = $24

> 3000 lbs. Static Climbing Rope:  $40

Framing Lumber 2″x 6″ x 10′ : $8 x (6) = $48

10″ Timber Screws: $15 for 12 pack = $15

(1) 1 Qt Wood Stain: $10

(1) Antique Oil Finish:  $11

Airborne Pathogens In The OR

Air quality in health care facilities is becoming an increased concern due to airborne pathogens that may include antibiotic-resistant bacteria and highly contagious viruses.

Ghost Productions creates magnificent 3D animations that help explain the complex process of how airborne pathogens, which are invisible to the naked eye, pass from one part of a healthcare facility to another; go from a patient to a healthcare practitioner; or pass from a patient to infect another patient.

Patient Safety in the Operating Room

A key concern for surgical procedures is having a sterile environment for the operating room. Surgical gowns, surfaces, floors, gurneys, medical supplies and surgical instruments all need to be sterilized. A mistake in not following proper sterilization procedures can cause the exposure of a patient, who is being operated on, to life-threatening pathogens.

Ghost Productions 3D medical animations demonstrate the infectious pathways. They clearly show how a contagion can pass from an item, which is not sufficiently sterilized, to a patient who is in an extremely vulnerable position while undergoing surgery.

Another source of contamination comes from a patient undergoing the surgical procedure. Any pathogens emanating from the surgical site are naturally passed to the air in the operating room. The air needs to be thoroughly cleaned during and between surgical procedures to avoid infecting any healthcare professionals and subsequent patients with the pathogens coming from the bodies of the previous ones undergoing surgery.

Additionally, the air can be contaminated with pathogens coming from the general healthcare facility if sufficient efforts are not made to isolate the operating room from air coming in that contains pathogens.

Infection Control in the Operating Room

Because the pathogens are not visible, 3D animation can show the potential transmission pathways, which can be thwarted by advanced safety procedures. These animations are an excellent resource for healthcare facilities. They can use them as training aids to explain the complex procedures necessary to manage the risks of infection control in an operating room.

Operating Room Air Quality
One useful method to protect operating rooms is to create a slightly higher air pressure that is stronger than the outside environment. The contagious risk is reduced by using air-filtration systems that only work with the air that is directly involved inside the operating room. This technique prevents outside air from coming into the surgery area because the natural barricade of higher air pressure prevents any air from entering through leaks or vents.

Ghost Productions has expert experience in showing these processes with 3D animations that are useful for healthcare facility operations. These 3D animations are also helpful for understanding new facility construction designs that improve the air quality of the operating rooms.

Defeating Pathogens With Aerobiotix T1 Air-Disinfectant Technology

This 3D animation produced by Ghost Productions shows the Aerobiotix T1 air-disinfectant technology. It is a great example of how 3D animation is used to explain complex problems. It demonstrates the technological solutions that are useful when managing them. This is an educational, marketing and training tool of the highest caliber.

Concepts that are well demonstrated in this 3D animation are the benefits of physically capturing pathogens by using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system in the operating room. The portability of the equipment and its quality construction are also shown in a positive light.

Instead of trying to kill pathogens with a chemical or biological agent, a physical filtration system for the air in an operating room prevents the pathogens from seriously contaminating the sterile environment. The advantage of this is that a physical filtration system does not create resistant strains arising from the few pathogens that survive treatments with biological or chemical agents.

Operating Room Safety

Operating room safety comes from using systems such as the Aerobiotix T1 air-disinfectant technology and other advanced procedures to reduce risk. 3D animations from Ghost Productions show how these systems work. These 3D animations also offer an educational component that helps healthcare professionals understand their important involvement in the process.

Consult with Ghost Productions if your organization works with the development, sales, and/or installation of air-quality systems for operating rooms or related devices. Ghost Productions will make an excellent product presentation using 3D animation.

Moreover, Ghost Productions is ready to help create a comprehensive training program, using high-quality 3D animation, which can serve as an interactive training tool for healthcare professionals in order to reduce the risk of airborne pathogens in operating rooms and save lives.

Sources

https://aerobiotix.com/

Rethinking the Operating Room to Prevent Surgical Site Infections

Medical Animations for Spine Surgery

Spinal repair surgery is one of the most complex procedures that medical students, physicians as well as patients need to understand. Technological advancement in medical device implantation and advanced surgical procedures are best demonstrated by high-quality 3D spinal surgery animation.

Spine animation shows the intricate parts of the spinal column and how all the pieces interact to form the support structure of the spinal column. By observing the anatomically correct 3D spine animation, it is easier for medical students, physicians, and patients to understand the delicate surgical procedures and the use of certain medical implant devices as they watch spine 3D animation.

Spine 3D Animation

An example of an excellent 3D animation made by Ghost Productions is the demonstration of the VIPER® Cortical Fix, which is a product of Johnson & Johnson. This new design came from the advancements previously achieved by the VIPER and EXPEDIUM product lines.

The screw tip for this product is self-tapping and self-centering. There is a unique quad lead thread for 18 millimeters of the top of the screw shank, which allows for enhanced fixation. Additionally, proximal threads allow for more engagement of exterior bone. This 3D animation shows that this medical device is compatible with the existing VIPER and EXPEDIUM portfolio.

These animations help medical professionals demonstrate to potential patients how certain procedures work, why they are needed, and how the procedures will help them.

There is an extraordinary need for visual aids to educate patients, such as the 3D animations and other services that Ghost Productions provides.

3D Animation as Training Tools

Spinal surgery and the use of spinal implants is complicated and more easily understood by medical students when they get a chance to view 3D spine surgery animations. The clarity of the demonstrations and the details shown help students learn the intricacies of spinal surgery and the use of a medical device prior to attempting to perform surgeries in real life.

It is important that the 3D animations are anatomically correct to give medical students the best view of what they may later encounter. 3D animations that are made meticulously to be anatomically correct and show the correct scale and size of the surgical procedures and the implantation of medical devices are extremely effective educational tools.

Build a Library of 3D Animation for Medical Students

There is no need to guess when students know that they have seen an accurate demonstration of that which they may encounter with spine injuries and spinal surgery. Contact Ghost Productions for help with any 3D animation projects that will enhance the learning experience of medical students, especially when it comes to spinal injuries, spinal surgery and medical device implantation.

Linked URLs

https://vimeo.com/42999122

http://ghostproductions.com/spine/

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