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O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5
Pardon the Disruption
Embrace the disruptive technologies that are changing surgery.
J
ust as Google replaced libraries, Uber
replaced taxis and Netflix replaced video
rental stores, surgery is full of its own
disruptive technologies, like outpatient total
joints, Accountable Care Organizations, percu-
taneous laparoscopic surgery and 3D printing.
There's dropless cataract surgery, and one day
we might have eye drops replacing cataract
surgery.
A technology is disruptive when it displaces an established technol-
ogy and shakes up the industry, like laparoscopy and regional anes-
thesia combining to create the minimally invasive surgical movement.
A disruptive technology can also be a groundbreaking product that
creates a completely new industry, like the surgical robot and
bariatric surgery.
This thing you do called outpatient surgery is perhaps healthcare's
ultimate disruptive technology. When the first pioneering surgeons
struck out on their own and built freestanding surgical centers that
were designed to siphon off the most profitable patients, hospitals
had a curious response. Rather than accept change and embrace the
efficiencies of the same-day surgical model, hospitals tried in vain to
resist what clearly was the more efficient, economical and preferred
way to run a surgical business. It was like the typewriter trying to
shoo away the personal computer.
Just as Sears gave way to Wal-Mart, many all-purpose hospitals
watched specialized surgery centers pass them by. Today, of course,
outpatient surgery is as much a part of the hospital culture as it is at
ASCs. The lessons here are:
E D I T O R ' S P A G E
Dan O'Connor