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3. User-friendliness
The next big hurdle to acceptance is getting robots introduced into learning and
training institutions, and exposing physicians to them during their residencies.
I think we'll see that happen in the next couple of years. When it does, the
floodgates are going to open and most surgeons will want to adopt this
new technology.
It isn't hard to learn, and it also has the potential to improve efficiency.
Surgeons who've never used a robot might find their first few cases taking 20 or
30 minutes longer. But within a very small number of procedures, the vast
majority will quickly become as fast as they were before, or faster, and may
even be able to do more cases in a given day. My colleagues and I improved our
efficiency almost immediately once we started using the robots. Robotics
reduces the overall operative times of my unicompartmental knee replacements
by 15 to 20 minutes. Plus, with robots, there are fewer instruments to process.
That could be a significant advantage for high-capacity centers.
4. Separation from the competition
It may take just one physician champion who can confidently say he'd be able
to bring lots of new business to your facility with a robot to justify adding the
technology. In the absence of that champion, a strong case can be made regard-
ing the importance of improved surgical results and reduced complications.
Correctly marketing the clinical benefits of robotics can shift market share
away from competitors. In fact, that begins to happen organically once patients
and physicians see and hear about enhanced surgical accuracy, reduced risk of
adverse outcomes, faster recoveries and, ultimately, improved joint function.
Our marketing has evolved in a way that speaks to the efficacy of robotics.
Initially, we bought some newspaper and radio ads, did some Internet outreach,
and made it a point to have physicians speak at community events about arthri-
tis, surgical options, the benefits of outpatient joint replacement and robotics.
But it didn't take long for word of mouth to become our best advertising.
