Florida Hospital, a part of the Adventist Health System based in Central Florida, is always seeking truly revolutionary innovations that can help us be more productive and effective with our patient care. Our hospital is a very large and growing institution, with over 3,000 beds at seven campuses – soon to be eight. We see more Medicare patients than any other hospital in the country and we are also one of the busiest overall, with 1 million patient visits a year.

Florida Hospital is a market leader in a high-growth region of a high-growth state. Walt Disney World is just a few miles away and numerous companies have opened branches or moved their headquarters here. But Florida Hospital Orlando, the flagship of Adventist Health System whose national headquarters are based in nearby Winter Park, is no overnight wonder. It will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. And despite all we have achieved in the last century, we are not resting on our laurels. We are constantly seeking ways to enhance safety, quality and the satisfaction of our patients, physicians and staff.

We have been chosen as one of the nation’s best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report since 1999 and we aim to retain that distinction. One way to keep on our toes is by embracing effective innovations. For example, back in 1971, Florida Hospital was the first in the nation to install a laminar air flow room that revolutionized joint replacement surgery; and in 1973 the hospital became one of the nation’s first users of a CT scanner. Florida Hospital is intentionally structured to embrace relationships that allow for innovation through a special division, the Strategic Venture Group, whose sole mission is to develop and manage Strategic Alliances with companies who embrace cutting edge technologies and share a vision to improve healthcare.

Our Strategic Venture Group creates Strategic Alliance Partnerships with innovative companies like STERIS that are developing the next big thing. "We must always work toward a higher level of healthcare and innovation," said Donna Lamb, director for strategic alliances for the Strategic Venture Group. "With Alliance partners, we continue to develop our abilities and core competencies, which in turn provide a benefit to our community and the healthcare industry."

When STERIS asked Florida Hospital to be a beta testing site for its Harmony LED surgical lights, we eagerly agreed. I trust the company. I have known STERIS and its predecessor for more than 30 years. We already use STERIS products, such as booms and other OR equipment, that are complementary to the Harmony LED light.

I have been very pleased with STERIS’s maintenance record and its reputation for providing unbiased training and education. With the Harmony LED lights project, STERIS did not let us down, and Lamb agrees. "STERIS worked very hard to understand how they would partner with us," she said.

According to STERIS, the company is entering the surgical LED lighting market with the "next generation" light. That means the company has closely examined problems and glitches with first generation LED lights and developed a product that addresses them.

Our surgeons tested the Harmony LED light in two of our ORs for about six weeks. Initially the light was in one of our general surgery suites, but that OR had less need for the lights because it was primarily for laparoscopic cases, so we moved the Harmony LED light. The general surgeons were sad to see the light go, but we wanted to give the product a rigorous test, and the gynecological surgeons in Room 22 fit the bill perfectly. Operating in deep cavities, gynecological surgeons need a very intense light to see what they are doing, and the surgeons were extremely pleased with the quality of the lighting.

Moving the Harmony LED light was a snap because it can be easily plugged in and out of the base of the Harmony LA system, STERIS’s modular, flexible system, which we had in both the general and gynecological operating rooms. The new lights do not need a different electrical hook-up so all we had to do was pull the Harmony LA lighthead off its arm and install the new lighthead in its place. The process was extremely easy.

The Harmony LED light brought a number of helpful changes to the OR. To start with, the new light is less bulky to handle than the halogen light. While the Harmony LA head looks like a giant flashlight, with a reflecting cone around one light, the Harmony LED light head looks like a shield with many smaller LED bulbs in it.

Controls for the Harmony LED lights are very simple and closely follow those for the Harmony LA system, which we already were using. That means virtually no training was needed. The controls are so intuitive that even surgeons not familiar with the Harmony LA system need no more than a couple of minutes of education.

But what puts the LED light a quantum leap ahead of other light technologies is the quality of the light. STERIS says the new light’s intensity is 150,000 lux. For reference, the noonday sun on a clear day delivers around 100,000 lux. This light is so bright that we replaced the three lightheads we had in the room with only two of the LED lights. And, because light is coming from each of the LEDs at different angles, there are few shadows, even when it’s shone deep into the body. The gynecological surgeons in Room 22 used the light to illuminate very deep into the pelvis, and by all accounts it performed wonderfully.

The Harmony LED emits a clear, white light. Some other surgical lights have a yellowish hue that tints the tissue the surgeon is working on and can make it harder to identify, but the new light is pure and white. You can see tissue in its true, life-like colors. The surgeons specifically praised the whiteness of the light.

Surgeon comfort was also greatly improved with the Harmony LED. When you have a hot surgical light beating down on the surgeon and staff during a long procedure, it makes everyone uncomfortable. And if you are uncomfortable, it makes it harder to concentrate on the critical task at hand. The Harmony LED lights were much cooler than the halogen lights they replaced, greatly increasing surgeon comfort. The cooler lights are also safer for patients as well since they reduce the risk of drying out exposed tissue.

The ultimate test for a new product in the OR is to let our surgeons try it out. They have strong, independent opinions about the devices they use, which we respect. They depend on all their devices to provide the highest quality performance, day in and day out. And it behooves us to listen to them. If they are not happy with the devices we provide them, they can always go someplace else. It is very important for Florida Hospital to provide the latest surgical technology, in order to create an environment of physician satisfaction and enhance our recruitment efforts as we continue to grow.

When Strategic Ventures Group initially asked the OR to participate in the Harmony LED testing, the gynecological surgeons did not seem very excited. New devices come and go. Robert Holloway, MD, a gynecological oncologist, says his first reaction to the Harmony LED light in Room 22 was, "…new surgical lights, what’s the big deal? We’ve gotten new lights before and they’re never much different from the old ones."

But after one use, Dr. Holloway was a convert to the Harmony LED system. "I’m not one to make endorsements," he said, "but this light is obviously so much better that I don’t mind endorsing it." What does he like most about the light? "This is a bright, clear light," he explains. "The colors are stronger and there are no shadows. You can see deep into the pelvis."

Dr. Holloway explained, "Female pelvic operations can be pretty involved. You are working deep in the body cavity — two feet down in some obese patients. You have to look into deep spaces that are not easy to visualize. The surgical light has to illuminate all that. If the lighting is better, the operation can go faster. You can operate more confidently because you can see the structures better."

The gynecological surgeons had a choice between Room 22, with the Harmony LED light, and Room 21, which had a halogen surgical light. After the first day of the new light, there was no contest: They all preferred Room 22. "The difference was extremely obvious," Dr. Holloway said.

The surgeons and their OR teams were also impressed with the comfort level of the new lights. The air conditioner was not cranked up so that the surgeon could tolerate hot lights, and therefore team members away from the lights did not have to wear extra layers of clothing.

At the end of the beta test, the Harmony LED lighting system was removed. It was a sad occasion for the surgeons who had been using them. "Hey, where are our lights?" they said. That impressed me. It’s not often that surgeons notice a difference and say something about it.

In my opinion, the LED lighting and visualization system passed our test with flying colors – no pun intended! It was a delight to be one of the first to use a technology that has so much ground-breaking potential.