All Entries Tagged With: "simulation"
Robotic surgeries need more uniform regulations, researchers say
Robotic surgeries, specifically those done with the da Vinci Surgical System are growing in popularity and may be outpacing uniform professional regulations. An article in the September issue of the Journal of Urology takes aim at the lack of uniformity among hospitals which credential and privilege practitioners to use this equipment, according to a Reuters review of the research.
“Currently, there is no credentialing system to evaluate a surgeon’s competency and surgeons cannot practice on simulators before taking on live patients,” summarizes Reuters.
Kevin Zorn, MD, chief of urology at Weiss Memorial Hospital at the University of Chicago and lead author of the journal article, told Reuters that hospitals have different guidelines for privileging da Vinci Surgical System users, and some have none.
Note: HCPro’s Clinical Privileging White Paper on robotic-assisted surgery will be published along with the November issue of Briefings on Credentialing. It will be archived on www.CredentialingResourceCenter.com beginning in mid-October. The white papers provide a guide to hospitals developing their own credentialing and privileging criteria.
Simulation training worth the high costs
A study recently released by Danish researchers highlighted findings well-known to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota: Simulation training makes better practitioners.
The Children’s Hospitals developed a mobile pediatric simulation training unit-the first of its kind in the nation-after receiving a donation from Kohl’s Department Stores in 2006. It cost about $750,000 to build and initially stock the training van, and additional funds to maintain it.
“I can’t tell you there’s a huge return on the actual investment other than training,” says Phillip Kibort, MD, MBA, chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. However, good clinical training is priceless. “If CEOs have a basic understanding of quality and safety principles, they know simulation is important and the better your simulation the better, probably, your outcomes are going to be,” he says.
Where medicine meets the arcade
The University of Washington School of Medicine has taken surgery simulation to a whole new level with the creation of a center specifically devoted to the practice, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
The UW’s Institute for Simulation and Interprofessional Studies is where medicine meets the arcade.
The goal of the UW’s world-renowned program in medical simulation — which has been around in various forms for decades but was only recently reconfigured into a comprehensive institute — has become much broader than simply using new technologies to train doctors how not to kill or injure patients. It’s also about training them how to play well with others, which studies show is just as critical as surgical dexterity for avoiding many kinds of medical mistakes.
Todd Morrison
Managing Editor