Too often, patients with broken bones or other injuries that require the services of an orthopedic surgeon arrive at the ED only to discover these specialists aren’t available. The patient must wait for treatment, or sometimes be transferred to a facility out of their local area. The result is delayed treatment, inconvenience for both patients […]
In the event of a traumatic medical emergency, millions of Americans—especially in rural areas, home for more than 14% of Americans –don’t have access to qualified general surgeons. When an accident does occur, they have to travel miles and hours to find the care they need, putting their health at risk. Often ambulances will pass […]
As hospitals continue to deal with pay-for-performance, accountable care and population health management, it’s vitally important for them to consider how emergency surgery services are delivered and how it impacts their success. One new resource on this topic is an article I recently wrote for the inaugural issue of Management in Healthcare, a new peer-reviewed […]
In this, my last blog in a series about the Acute Care Surgery model, let’s review the benefits for general surgeons. For surgeons who may not want to start a private practice or who may be looking for alternatives to that career path, an acute care surgery service represents a viable choice. It’s certainly challenging […]
In my last blog, I talked about the Acute Care Surgery space, highlighting where it is headed, specifically as we seek to attract new surgeons to the profession. But in an era of surgical shortages, where millions of Americans don’t have ready access to a good surgeon, getting new physicians to join the profession is […]
Whether it’s a collision or an emergency appendectomy, acute care surgeons, take care of the sickest patients in the hospital. We are hospital-based surgeons who, as part of a dedicated and collaborative team, provide care to patients during their most critical times of need, 24/7. Because we are highly trained and are at the ready […]
Millions of Americans don’t have access to a qualified surgeon in the event of a trauma-related medical emergency—a problem that is especially acute in rural areas. Recently, Anne Platt, FACHE and CEO of Sutter Amador Hospital, and I made a presentation at the American College of Healthcare Executives’ 2016 Congress on Healthcare Leadership on this […]
>Our Acute Care Surgery Model (also referred to as surgical hospitalist or surgicalist programs) delivers a programmatic approach to general emergency surgery providing access to high-quality emergency surgical care 24/7. By applying the acute care surgery model, which applies disciplines in trauma surgery to general surgery, we are able to achieve consistent, evidence-based care and […]
Hospitals are searching for a workable system for 24/7 ED emergency surgery coverage. Unfortunately for the hospitals, there’s a shortage of surgeons. This, combined with many surgeons’ frustration with ED call coverage and their desire to have more regular hours, is exacerbating the problem. It’s often a major source of conflict between hospital administrators and […]
Hospitals with trauma centers have a demonstrated commitment to providing the absolute best care possible. They do this by meeting the requirements established by the government and other authorized entities. Many take the additional step of voluntarily allowing experts from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) to conduct an on-site review of the hospital to […]
