At Oswego, Ill.-based Kendall Pointe Surgery Center, patients now come back from surgery to the same bay they left from. Patient surveys drove the change.
The physician-owned orthopedic ASC built out 15 patient bays as part of a more than $3.5 million expansion completed this fall. Each bay supports pre-operative care, post-anesthesia care and recovery, according to an Oct. 19 news release.
The center surveys patients monthly, said Jorge Chahla, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and vice chair of the Kendall Pointe board. Feedback pointed to how patients and their families arrived and waited. Patients used to go from a pre-op area to the OR and then to a separate recovery bay. That meant moving their belongings, and families had to go somewhere else to find them.
“Now they kind of get their own space within the surgery center, which is the same place where they come back after surgery,” Dr. Chahla told Becker’s. “It feels more of a ‘that’s your space’ type of thing, and patients really like that type of experience.”
The center also redid its reception and waiting areas.
Rethinking patient movement was part of making the fourth OR’s added capacity usable, said Matthew Obenhaus, senior vice president of design and engineering at NueHealth, which manages the center.
“That meant expanding pre-op, recovery and sterile processing alongside the new OR and rethinking how patients and staff move through the space, so the center can take on more volume without creating new bottlenecks,” Mr. Obenhaus said in the release.
The center is also using NueHealth’s Muve platform for nurse-led navigation and patient engagement before and after surgery.
Physician ownership let the surgeons act quickly on the feedback, Dr. Chahla said. In a large system, changes like this usually have to pass through several layers of leadership.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
