Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Special Edition: Anesthesia - July 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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tality rate hasn't changed since the 1970s and is the third-leading cause of death in the world right now. Essentially, we're doing an amazing job in the OR, but not such an amazing job for the 30 days following surgery. Don't forget, too, that because of the "traditional" approach, many patients have slid into opioid addiction, which is its own enormous health crisis. You need to explain this to every member of your care team. Aside from the surgeons, they don't usually see patients again after surgery and therefore don't know what's going on with them during the 30-day post-op period. Healthcare professionals ask me to send them ERAS protocols all the time. I'm happy to, but I make one thing abundantly clear: The likelihood ERAS will be adopted at their institution is very low unless their medical staff takes ownership of the process and becomes truly convinced they actually developed an effective enhanced recovery protocol. Engage your surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists. Sit everyone down and ask, "What are we going to do and how are we going to change our current practices?" If you get buy-in, they'll change those prac- tices. If you don't, they won't. With ERAS, the most challenging factor isn't the technology or the drugs or the costs, it's the human factor. It's getting people to under- stand and agree that they need to change some of their practices. It's really a sales job. If you succeed in selling enhanced recovery pro- gram to patients and staff, like any other sale, you'll reap the benefits. OSM 4 8 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 2 0 Dr. Kain (zeev.kain@yale.edu) is president of the American College of Perioperative Medicine and a Chancellor's Professor of Anesthesiology and Orthopedics at the University of California, Irvine.

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