In the future, many believe minimally invasive, da Vinci surgery will become the standard of care for payers, physicians and patients.
Minimally invasive procedures are associated with more predictable health outcomes, greater efficiencies and lower costs.
During a virtual featured session as part of Becker's Hospital Review 11th Annual Meeting, four experts discussed how and why their health systems are embracing da Vinci surgery platforms:
- Kent Bishop, MD, CMO of ProMedica Healthcare in Toledo, Ohio
- Kevin Fleming, COO of Providence St. Joseph Health in Renton, Wash.
- Harry C. Sax, MD, executive vice chair, vice chair and professor of surgery at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles
- Pam Stoyanoff, president and COO of Methodist Health System in Dallas
Four key takeaways were:
1. Leading health systems treat da Vinci as a service line, rather than an equipment strategy. Methodist Health System found that its da Vinci business soared once it dispelled common myths and treated da Vinci as a service line. In general, physicians prefer to buy into a service line strategy. "As physicians become capable on the robot, surgery time decreases and we've seen drastic reductions in length of stay, surgical site infections and OR readmissions," Ms. Stoyanoff said. "Thanks to the reduced length of stay, the profit margin is there." Cedars-Sinai has also taken a service line approach. The organization's robotics committee includes representation from different specialties, as well as the OR, support services and Intuitive.
2. In today's world of value-based care, da Vinci platform standardization minimizes errors and increases efficiency. This is important for patients, clinical staff and hospital administrators. In the last year, Providence St. Joseph Health decided to standardize its da Vinci platforms across sites. "Now on a specialty-by-specialty basis, we can dig into the data and engage with physicians," Mr. Fleming said. "In this new world of value, we must deliver the best clinical outcome at the lowest cost."
3. Physicians see da Vinci as the future of surgery. In addition to the potential financial benefits of robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, physicians see that patients recover much faster than with open procedures. Health systems are finding that the right da Vinci platform helps them attract top talent. "Access to the robot is a big deal to any doctor we're trying to bring in," Dr. Bishop said. "In the past, physicians left our institution because we didn't have the right platform. Now that we do, we're seeing the reverse."
4. Sharing cost data with physicians empowers them. Cedars-Sinai provides surgeons with quarterly reports that show their performance relative to peers including length of stay and readmission rate. When the names of the best performers were unblinded, the other physicians shifted to a more standardized approach, which lowered cost. "We give them their costs in the OR and the total direct costs for the patient stay," Dr. Sax said. "Some surgeons are slightly more expensive in the operating room, but their length of stay is shorter or their complications rates are lower. This is very important as we move to bundled payments where outcomes are primary."
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