A P R I L 2 0 1 5 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 9
Brother looking over their shoulders
during procedures, watching their
every move. They're also fearful that
the data captured could be used dur-
ing medical malpractice cases, espe-
cially in the litigious society in which
we all operate. Those are valid con-
cerns and I understand why surgeons might feel that way, but in the vast
majority of cases, the information captured by the black box will help surgical
teams in court by showing they performed to the best of their abilities.
In addition, demystifying the operating room will benefit our profession and
keep patients better informed about the care they receive. Patients are more
interested in healthcare transparency, from the true cost of procedures to the
quality of the care involved.
The OR remains a high-risk environment. Errors will continue to happen,
despite our best efforts to prevent them, although the black box will reduce
the likelihood that surgical teams keep repeating the same mistakes. But I
also believe the technology has a greater purpose if it's used constructively
to improve surgical care for patients and enhance how surgical teams inter-
act and perform procedures. Beyond error analysis, the black box will be
used to analyze adverse events or assess new procedures, technology and
techniques.
Every surgeon wants to improve professionally. They spend a great deal of
time developing skills in clinical workshops and learning about new techniques
at educational conferences and in peer-reviewed journals. But there's a problem
with the culture of expectation in surgery. Surgeons have the unfair expectation
of perfection ingrained into them early on in their careers. It's a false hope rein-
forced by patients who expect their surgeons to be infallible and all surgeries to
result in successful outcomes. But that misguided belief limits opportunities to
z EYE IN THE SKY Cameras
positioned throughout the OR
capture all the action.
