orm_november-2023 - 28

Role of robotics coordinators in standardization, efficiency
TECHNOLOGY
he importance of a dedicated robotics
coordinator's role in an efficient
da Vinci robotics program
cannot be overstated.
" You need someone
to take ownership of the
program, set up training
for staff and surgeons,
and coordinate ongoing
development, " says June
Hill, BSN, RN, CNOR,
clinical director of robotics,
Inova Health System.
" You need that point perT
June
Hill,
BSN, RN,
CNOR
son that everyone goes to, she says. "
The Inova Health System, which
comprises five hospitals in Northern
Virginia, began its robotics program in
2004, and it has grown to more than
1,360 cases per year, including cardiac,
general, gynecologic, head & neck, thoracic,
urologic, vascular, kidney transplant,
hepato-pancreato-biliary, and
acute care surgical procedures (sidebar,
Surgery Growth).
" We have a fleet of 16 Xi robots and
one Ion robot, " says Hill, who has been
Inova's robotics program coordinator
since February 2022 and was a hospital
coordinator at Bon Secours, Richmond,
Virginia, as well as director of robotics
for all six hospitals from 2005 to 2019.
Coordinating the team
The robotics team requires collaboration
of many professionals and takes both
health-system and hospital/facility coordinators
to run the program efficiently.
Members of the robotics team are
multidisciplinary. Included are:
* Service line coordinators
* Surgical assistants, physician assistants,
and RN first assistants
* Surgical technologists
* RN circulating and scrub nurses
* Patient care technicians
* Anesthesia team personnel
* Surgeons and surgical residents.
Role of the health system robotics
program coordinator. This is a role that
not many health systems have, says
28
OR Manager | Nov/Dec 2023
Hill. Her responsibilities include:
* Developing the robotics strategic
goals for the entire program and
health system
* Advancing a tailored physician alignment
strategy that encompasses all
service lines
* Performing business and financial
analyses to let leadership see how
the program is progressing
* Leading the marketing strategy for
all hospitals and service lines
* Writing and revising policies and procedures
as the program and number
of service lines grow
* Executing an ongoing staff training
plan, which is important more than
ever now with so many travelers on
staff, Hill says
* Standardizing the da Vinci robotics
program across the health system
* Developing and executing efficiency
protocols for the robotics surgeons.
Role of the hospital/facility robotics
coordinator. Each hospital in the system
also has a dedicated robotics coordinator
(sidebar, A day in the life of a hospital
coordinator), whose role involves:
* Maintaining care of the da Vinci robots-making
sure they are put up
correctly and rolled out correctly
* Inventory management-ensuring
that all supplies are available that
will be needed for the different cases
on the schedule for up to a week
* Standardizing processes-educating
staff on tray, table, and room set up
* Monitoring the block schedule-
making sure each robotics surgeon
and service line are given block time
and that they are using their blocks;
in addition, there should be rooms
that are not blocked out and are first
come, first served
* Maximizing utilization-keeping an
eye on the schedule to see if there
are any open cases scheduled in
a robot room, if there is any way to
schedule robotics cases to follow
one another, or looking at the schedule
and seeing a robotics surgeon
BY JUDITH MATHIAS
doing a case laparoscopically, while
a robot is available, and letting the
surgeon know it is available
* Scheduling appropriate room staffing-making
sure appropriate people
are in on cases because not all
staff are proficient in all specialties,
and reassigning staff members if
someone calls out
* Educating staff on set-up and breakdown
of the da Vinci robot-ensuring
that everyone knows how to
hook up the robot, how to break it
down, and how to troubleshoot it as
well as providing ongoing education
programs; Hill recommends quarterly
sessions lasting 3 to 4 hours
* Gathering data-dedicating time to
gather data and work with the analytics
team in order to establish
and run reports on volume, on-time
starts, time in the room, and time
on the console
* Organizing and participating in steering
committee meetings-organizing regular
steering committee meetings, to
which all of the key players are invited,
including surgeons, OR directors, Csuite
members, as well as finance,
quality, and marketing individuals
* Recruiting the right people-investing
in and recruiting qualified staff
and individuals who have a positive
attitude toward the robotics program
is paramount, says Hill, adding,
" It is nice to have people in those
rooms who really want to be there "
* Staying updated on current trends in
robotics surgery-emerging robots
on the market now require that coordinators
be knowledgeable about
what the new ones can offer and
whether they would be a good fit in
their programs
* Maintaining staff competencies and
online training modules-standardizing
training involves four steps.
The first step is completing online
training modules that go over the instruments
used as well as the set up and
break down of the robot. There also are
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