placement requires tremendous skill and a flawless performance.
Misplaced screws can cause complications and result in return visits
for revision procedures, both of which can negatively impact your
bottom line.
Dr. Lieberman says accurate, image-guided screw placement is cur-
rently the core function of a spinal robot. And that's powered by
accompanying pre-planning software that not only enables precise
screw placement using the robot, but also provides the adjunct bene-
fit of getting him and his team prepared and on the same page before
they begin the operation. "All the implants are prepared," he says.
"The sizes of the screws are all ready to go, the rods are all ready to
go. Everybody knows what we're going to do and everybody knows
each step of the operation." That results in increased cost savings
due to decreased revisions and complications, while also decreasing
time in the OR for each case, he says.
Essentially, the robot streamlines his process, and makes it more
efficient, he says — a goal to which many surgery centers aspire. "The
robot helps facilitate the surgery," he says. "It makes me as a surgeon
more precise and more efficient. It's guidance, it's navigation, it's pre-
operative planning, it's execution and workflow in the operating
room." Those increased efficiencies can deliver across-the-board
impact, and have the potential to positively transform a center's oper-
ations.
2. Quicker surgeries can lead to increased patient vol-
ume.
If used properly, a robot can bring more patients, and potential-
ly more profit, to your spine service. Because surgeries are performed
more quickly, you can accommodate more patients on a given day.
"An operation that used to take me 6 to 8 hours is now only taking me
3 to 4 hours," says Dr. Lieberman. "Now I can do 2 of those operations
7 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 9
