Orthopedic procedures such as total joint replacements were once unfamiliar territory for many ASCs, but the growth of outpatient orthopedics means those procedures are becoming more common.
John Woodward Jr., MD, chair of the orthopedic surgery section at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo., and Eric Grossman, MD, orthopedic surgeon at Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute in New York City, told "Becker's ASC Review Podcast" that role-play is a good way of ensuring your team is prepared.
Note: This is an edited excerpt. Listen to the full podcast episode here.
Question: What are some common pitfalls that centers run into when launching total joint programs, and how do you combat them?
Dr. John Woodward: A pitfall would be having a facility set up and thinking you're ready to do a total knee or a total hip, but not being prepared.
You ought to do an entire joint replacement, not necessarily on a cadaver, but go through the entire process from the parking lot, from going into the lobby and checking in, to every step along the way. You may [notice] a number of points that were not picked up initially.
Dr. Eric Grossman: Role-play was a word [Dr. Woodward] used. The first thing you can do to some degree for your own preparedness is have your team come and witness your surgeries in a hospital setting. Perform an outpatient [surgery] out of the hospital setting. It's a nice lead-in. It gives everyone a level of understanding of what your particular style is.
But the role-playing, we did it exhaustively, and it felt somewhat comical at the time, because you're literally walking through the hallways and pretending to push medicines, but that allowed for cues of things that maybe would have been missed had you just sat around a table.So role-play is hugely important.