1 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
Ideas Work
P r a c t i c a l p e a r l s f r o m y o u r c o l l e a g u e s
That
H
ow many times has
this happened at
your facility? A surgi-
cal schedule is drawn up, but
before the day arrives, cases
are canceled or added. This
change of plans changes sever-
al start times, and as a result,
a string of surgeons have to
wait until their OR is open,
complaining that they could've
taken care of other business in
the meantime, or your staff (and your patients, who ended up arriving
early) have to wait for the surgeons to show up.
It's even more frustrating when you did call the surgeons' sched-
ulers or the hospital OR to let them know about the changes, but they
didn't get the word. So we take it upon ourselves to communicate
directly with our surgeons. Our clinical administrator has all the docs'
numbers programmed into her phone, and at the end of each day she
sends short text messages reminding them about their start times at
our center the next day. Docs live by their phones, so everyone's more
efficient and the schedule stays on track.
Bridget Panco, RN
Ambulatory Care Center
Vineland, N.J.
bridget@samedaysurgery.com
Text Your Surgeons Tomorrow's Start Times Today
• SENDING WORD Text messages from Melissa Hermanson, RN,
CASC, keep surgeons on top of the day's schedule.
Bridget
Panco,
RN
