It was great seeing so many of you at DDW in San Diego! This meeting is always a wonderful time to catch up and to explore our shared vision for the future of patient care in our field. It is a future that holds much promise. As in any field, there are challenges, as well. But together we can meet those challenges.
We know it’s very difficult to focus on what you do best, which is to provide excellent care for your patients, when budgets across all regions are under immense pressure and you and your staffs are asked to do more with less. Your concerns are our concerns. That’s why we’re here to work together to help you confront these challenges, whether on the nursing side, the physician side or in hospital administration.
For example, we understand that you have less time and resources to devote to education and training. Our Vista Education and Training Programs were created to help with these challenges. These peer-to-peer events provide your staff with essential, practical training in advanced techniques using innovative technologies to improve patient care. Each year we offer hundreds of these hands-on, interactive sessions around the globe in a wide range of clinical specialties, such as the Focus on ERCP Fundamentals Skills Theatre. This program brings young endoscopists together with world-renowned ERCP practitioners and instructors. Using our state-of-the-art ERCP Trainer—developed by Professor Guido Costamagna and Dr. Ivo Boškoski—participants gain a practical understanding of basic pancreatobiliary anatomy and therapeutic ERCP devices offered by Cook Medical. Vista programs are offered locally and regionally in multiple countries around the globe with new anatomical models to simulate general GI and endoscopic ultrasound procedures being developed to expand the educational focus of these programs, as well.
Another way we can help is by adding confidence and security to your procedures through our approach to device innovation. Our goal is to create products that are more efficient and effective, such as our Instinct Hemoclip, which is designed to help you potentially deal quickly and successfully with critical bleeds you may encounter in many cases.
Increasing efficiencies and simplifying your stenting procedures was also what we had in mind when we developed of our wide array of Evolution stents. Each stent has a unique, simple deployment system that allows for greater control and accuracy when stenting throughout the GI tract. Once your team is trained on placing any Evolution stent, they then use the same deployment method for all the Evolution stents, and that can lower the learning curve and potentially reduce the risk of errors and the need for additional training.
Another way we can help you lower your costs and increase efficiencies is through our BusinessCare Integration (BCI). Our BCI team can work with you, one-on-one, to develop and customize tools to help streamline your business activities, such as purchasing, delivery and inventory management.
So, as you face the challenges of a constantly shifting healthcare landscape, we want you to know that we are here to help. We can give you the experience and support to help you focus on what’s most important: Delivering the best care to your patients every day. We look forward to working together. Let us know how we can help.
Best regards,
Barry Slowey
President, Cook Medical Winston-Salem
Strategic Business Unit Leader, Endoscopy