A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 7
patients home on the day of surgery after they spend a few hours recovering in
inpatient rooms under the care of certified orthopedic nurses and staff physical
therapists. The St. Cloud Surgical Center is hosting younger, more active patients
who don't have the comorbid conditions that necessitate having their procedures
done in a hospital. Both facilities are focusing on the patients they should be taking
care of, and both are doing well.
Joseph Nessler, MD, of St. Cloud Orthopedics, which has a majority interest in
the St. Cloud Surgical Center, helped revive the facility's outpatient joints pro-
gram in 2014. Today, the surgery center is performing about 25% of the commu-
nity's total joints. You'd think the hospital would be unhappy to lose one-fourth
of its cases to the local ASC, but the hospital's volume has actually increased by
10%.
Dr. Nessler points to the halo effect his practice's investment in robotics has
had on the hospital's overall case volume. The surgeons at St. Cloud
Orthopedics market their use of robotics, which, they say, has increased the
number of patients seeking surgery at facilities that use the technology (see "Is
Robotic-Assisted Joint Replacement for You?" on p. 25). That growing interest
has brought additional patients into the center and has also increased the num-
ber of patients who undergo surgery in St. Cloud Hospital, which has also
adopted robotics. "The entire volume of surgery is increasing," says Dr. Nessler.
At first, it was hard for Ms. Schneider to accept losing business to the surgery
center. But then she realized how much patients would benefit if the competing
entities worked together, and how important it is for the hospital to work with,
instead of against, the only ortho group in town that still brings profitable cases
to the hospital and has been a valuable partner in building the hospital's ortho-
pedic specialty programs.
The relationship between St. Cloud Surgical Center and St. Cloud Hospital
now includes community outreach programs headed by Ms. Schneider and Dr.
Nessler. The pair conduct talks about the many benefits of outpatient total joint
