But with so many people involved, it's easy for things to slip through
the cracks or for redundant messages to cause confusion or, worse,
delay things from getting done on schedule.
Our solution? Appointing a dedicated coordinator to oversee the clini-
cal management of the program and to ensure communication reaches
all care team members. Plus, we created an interdisciplinary work-
group to give everybody from clinical (surgeons, nurses, OT/PT) and
administrative staff (security, patient registration, patient experience)
timely, consistent and, most importantly, relevant updates on same-day
workflow, patient education materials and process changes — like the
opioid-sparing protocol we piloted on our same-day patients.
Make patient education a priority
While there are a number of factors you can't control with a same-day
procedure — like unexpected complications — one thing you absolute-
ly can control is how prepared your same-day patients are for not only
their surgery, but also their post-op recovery.
We require each of our same-day patients and their adult coach — a
friend, family member or neighbor that agrees to spend a minimum of 2
days pre-op and 2 days post-op supporting the patient — to attend a 2-
hour pre-hab class on their procedure. For the first hour of the class,
the patient and coach talk with a nurse from our care management
team about everything they can expect with a same-day procedure —
from the moment they arrive at the hospital to the days and weeks fol-
lowing the surgery. While this section covers general info that applies to
all same-day patients — such as proper hydration, post-op DVT prophy-
laxis and cath pumps — it's also tailored directly to the individual
patient, so they learn how things like their medical history and any
present co-morbidities could affect their outcome.
Patients spend the next 30 minutes of the class with a physical thera-
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