joints cases is essential to the
hospital's future success.
"We now have the facilities and
capabilities to observe and man-
age patients for longer periods
of time until we feel comfortable
discharging them on the day of
surgery," says Ms. Gilbert.
Investing in new construction
to capitalize on the increasing
demand for outpatient total joints makes good financial and clinical
sense, adds Dr. Rose. "Our hospital exists because we've provided the
community with the services they've wanted throughout the years,"
he says. "We have a very savvy, educated patient population. If we
don't offer the surgical care they want, they'll go elsewhere to receive
it. But if we meet their care needs, and do it right, our business model
will succeed."
Beyond brick and mortar
Bryn Mawr's surgical team realized, somewhat ironically, that the
hospital's ORs needed to get bigger as the incisions they made got
smaller. The pavilion's new rooms are 650 square feet — about twice
the size of the former suites — to provide extra space for the tech-
nology and additional staff needed to perform more minimally inva-
sive procedures. Each OR in the new pavilion also features state-of-
the-art engineering, including high-tech air filters and laminar flow,
and wireless video capabilities.
Standardizing the new ORs with the latest technological advances
demanded a significant investment, but the alternative wasn't neces-
sarily the more economic choice. "Retrofitting wireless technologies
If we meet our
community's needs
and do it right,
the business model
works out.
— David Rose, MD
