Surgical coverage plays a crucial role in the healthcare landscape. Having a high-performing, collaborative acute surgical program frees up community physicians from call coverage and improves hospital performance. CarolinaEast Medical Center and TeamHealth have a longstanding partnership for acute care general surgery and acute orthopedic surgery. Partnering for the last 14 years, TeamHealth provides a dedicated team of surgeons to help unassigned patients with acute surgical needs.
The Benefits of Acute Surgical Coverage
Consistent acute coverage provides immediate surgical interventions for patients with urgent needs, ensuring rapid access to surgical expertise and contributing significantly to positive patient outcomes. Historically, surgical needs have been covered by community physicians, but as healthcare changes and community surgeons wish to be unburdened from unassigned care to focus on their elective practice, a need for surgical hospitalists emerged. At CarolinaEast, the team has seen enhanced efficiency and outcomes, improved community surgeon relationships and increased collaboration and satisfaction.
Enhanced Efficiency and Outcomes
Acute care general and acute orthopedic surgery programs are designed to promptly address a wide range of emergency surgical conditions. By providing timely and expert care, this coverage helps reduce complications, morbidity and mortality rates associated with acute surgical conditions. Patients benefit from expedited evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, leading to improved outcomes and enhanced quality of care.
“It’s not just taking call. For the tricky cases, we bring a level of quality that patients and hospitals need,” says Dr. Jonathan Scherl, TeamHealth’s national medical director of acute orthopedic surgery. “We also bring availability beyond call coverage, offering follow-up care, non-surgical consultations, clinic hours and more.”
Consistent surgical coverage also streamlines hospital operations and boosts efficiency. This efficiency not only benefits patients but also optimizes resource utilization and enhances the overall operational effectiveness of the hospital. Additionally, by streamlining surgical services and reducing the length of stay, these programs can lower overall healthcare costs and improve resource allocation within the hospital.
Easing Burdens for Elective Surgeons
Acute coverage can increase the productivity of elective surgeons. This can also lead to enhanced recruiting efforts for specialists, as relieving unassigned call burden is a vital recruiting point. The hospital and patients likewise benefit from prompt evaluation as on-site surgeons provide surgical services instead of waiting for community physicians to see patients at the conclusion of their elective schedules.
At CarolinaEast, the hospital and community physicians have benefited from the acute surgical coverage, as community physicians are freed from unassigned call coverage and can perform elective cases unencumbered. Moreover, the acute care general surgery program is also able to provide service for some urgent elective cases when community surgeons have extended appointment wait times for patients, many of whom are in the high renal failure population.
“We're providing a lot of comprehensive care, including some services that are unique to CarolinaEast, and it has been very good for the community,” says Dr. Tom Davis, TeamHealth’s facility medical director of acute general care surgery at CarolinaEast and medical director of the wound clinic/hyperbaric medicine program. “We've been very responsive to the hospital's needs, and we are integral here.”
Collaborative Approach
The enhanced coverage from these programs fosters collaboration among multidisciplinary healthcare teams. This collaborative approach enhances communication, coordination and teamwork – resulting in better patient outcomes and a more cohesive healthcare delivery system. Additionally, teams experience increased staff satisfaction with prompt and courteous surgical consults when needed.
“The TeamHealth surgeons at each hospital are ingrained in the hospitals and in the communities,” says Dr. William Tapscott, TeamHealth’s national medical director of acute care general surgery. “They become committee members, chairpersons of departments and participate in community outreach. And, they have the huge resource backing of TeamHealth.”
CarolinaEast has also benefited from the long-term leadership of facility medical directors in acute care general surgery and acute orthopedic surgery. Both have brought a level of consistency and steadiness to the team that increases collaboration and satisfaction. By working together seamlessly, these programs ensure comprehensive and holistic care for patients with acute surgical needs.
Enhancing Hospital Outcomes through In-house Surgery Coverage
Consistent in-house surgical coverage is indispensable and plays a vital role in improving patient outcomes, enhancing hospital efficiency and driving financial sustainability. The close relationships we foster with our partners help us bring tailored solutions to meet their unique challenges, and the long-standing partnership at CarolinaEast is a testament to this. To learn more about partnering with us, please get in touch.