Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Special Outpatient Surgery Edition - OR Excellence Program Preview - June 2018

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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the societal addiction to speed, technology and distraction, what Dr. Papadakos calls "hyperculture." Technology can be a powerful tool, but electronic devices are also powerfully addictive. It's hard to believe that a surgeon can browse Facebook while a patient is on the operating table, but it happens all too often. • Safety risk. A nidus for infection, phones and tablets are "the third hand nobody pays attention to," says Dr. Papadakos. You can wash your hands thoroughly and forget about the phone in your pocket. The problem, says Dr. Papadakos, is that our societal hyperculture has got- ten ahead of our hospital culture. The tendency to check apps, browse the Internet, answer calls and text loved ones is so innate in this digital age that it is continually breaking the boundary of the sterile OR. • Malpractice slam-dunk. What would patients think if they knew they were putting their trust into this kind of care? Well, in many cases, they'll sue. And in a malpractice case, forget about having any defense when your entire web history is available to prosecutors. • Focus on patient care. Dr. Papadakos has been pushing hard to educate healthcare professionals on this issue. The road to changing the culture starts with self-realization, knowing the risks that devices pose in the OR and rethinking our relationship with digital tools. In the OR, it means calling out coworkers who get liberal with their phone use. Dr. Papadakos also advocates practicing concentration and close listening when dealing with patients, moving away from an addiction to multitasking and distraction and working one-on-one with priority No. 1: the patient. If you have a teenager, you know that life can be a struggle to pry them away from their phones. Constantly scrolling, typing, chatting and who knows what else. Healthcare professionals really are no different from teenagers, says Dr. Papadakos. OSM 2 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J u N E 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 8 P R E V I E W

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