Easier surgical operations, shorter stay times, less patient pain, and better ROI for the hospital – does that sound like a dream? It’s not. It’s reality at the Medical University of South Carolina.
For more than a year, Dr. Bruce Crookes, Division Chief of the Division of General Surgery & Charles F. Crews Professor of Surgery at MUSC has been been using a surgical robot.
He quickly realized the value and started to employ the tool in new ways.
Once only for elective procedures and idle for much of the day, the robot is now a tool Dr. Crookes and his team use in emergency situations, after hours, and in community hospitals.
Dr. Crookes says the robot allows for increased articulation (particularly of the wrist) and visibility, and provides the ability to do things not possible with the laparoscope.
All of those benefits can translate to significantly decreased length of stay and reduced pain for patients, and quicker bed space turnover and ROI for hospitals.
Learn more about Dr. Crookes: https://muschealth.org/MUSCApps/ProviderDirectory/Crookes-Bruce
Learn more about the Medical Univ. of South Carolina: https://muschealth.org
Learn more about the MUSC Children’s Hospital: https://musckids.org
Topical Time Codes:
00:55 – How MUSC uses the robot – from elective to general and trauma
1:35 – Going from elective to emergent – planned vs immediate need
2:46 – Ability to do more than with a laparoscope
5:08 – Decreased length of stay
6:45 – Benefits to medical centers
7:42 – Patient cost
8:30 – Patient outcomes
10:07 – Allows for more innovation
11:48 – Ease of use and accuracy in abdomen sewing
12:36 – Residents’ interest and use of robot
13:49 – Win-win for patient and hospital
15:58 – Patient reception of robot use
16:59 – Higher patient satisfaction and better outcomes
18:29 – Evolution of medicine in his career
20:06 – Use in gynecological oncology and urology
21:36 – Advice to doctors using the robot for the first time
