As the popularity of surgical robots continues to grow across all medical specialties, there are key factors that ASCs have to consider when determining if the investment is worth it for their practice.
Robots can be expensive, and surgeons have to be specially trained to properly use the new surgical equipment.
Sam Romeo, MD, general partner at Tower Health & Wellness Center in Turlock, Calif., emphasized that practices have to be willing to consider the cost of robotics and whether or not robots will actually pay off for their patients and physicians.
Editor's note: Response has been edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are the top considerations ASCs should know before investing in surgical robots?
Dr. Sam Romeo: You have to consider the surgeon's commitment and number of cases. Robots raise costs without payers offsetting revenue. Do robots add cases and surgeon's commitment? Added quality is still in question.