Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

ORX Awards and the Winners Are ... - September 2014 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

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

Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/377476

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 106 of 170

1 0 7 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E BSM Surgery Center in Corvallis, Ore. "I had never set up a center before," says Ms. Vahle. "They picked out every piece of equipment they'd need, every medication in the for- mulary." Today, they help conduct mock codes such as malignant hyperther- mia and lidocaine toxicity drills. They come in on their off days to attend staff meetings, answer their cell phones at any hour and will lend you a tractor. Wait, a tractor? "If you need them to," laughs Ms. Vahle. "This is farm country." Her surgery center started with a group of 9 anesthesiologists, some of whom would sedate the same way, no matter which procedure patients were undergoing. Patients would sometimes take longer to wake up than the surgery lasted, which jammed up the recovery room. In the years since, Ms. Vahle and the center's physician-owners hand- picked a core group of 5 providers who have the mindset to work in ambulatory surgery. "They are proactive in ensuring patients are pain- free and experience no [nausea or vomiting]" she says. "They have a knack to manage anesthesia so patients are alert soon after they arrive in recovery, and are ready to go home in a timely manner." Her providers have achieved 99% positive ratings in patient satisfac- tion surveys over the last 3 years. A Joint Commission surveyor recently said he had never seen a more dedicated group. Their hand hygiene practices are impeccable. They listen closely to breath sounds, focus intently on airway assessments and perform detailed pre-op assessments. Following notoriously painful ACL surgeries, 95% of patients require no additional medication other than the femoral and popliteal blocks the anesthesiologists administer. You know those providers that you wouldn't want sedating your family? (Yes, you do.) "There's not one here like that," says Ms. Vahle. A N E S T H E S I A

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers - ORX Awards and the Winners Are ... - September 2014 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine