Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery Creates Initiative to Improve Patient Care

AUSTIN, Texas, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery at St. David's North Austin Medical Center announced today that it has partnered with three Texas hospitals to create an initiative to help improve patient care and enhance the delivery of care in da Vinci robotic surgery. As part of the initiative, Medical City in Dallas, Methodist Stone Oak Hospital in San Antonio and Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare in El Paso will be affiliates of the Austin-based Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery in the delivery of da Vinci surgical services.

These Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery affiliates will now be part of the collaborative performance enhancement initiative led by the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery at St. David's North Austin Medical Center. This partnership is a first-in-the-world initiative that creates a collective capability among member hospitals aimed at improving the care delivered to patients, as well as enhancing best practices of surgeons and hospital team members involved in the delivery of da Vinci surgical services.

"Using collaboration to enhance performance through the creation of a collective intelligence and collective capability has been a goal of the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery from the beginning," Randy Fagin, M.D., chief administrative officer of the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery at St. David's North Austin Medical Center, said. "I know I speak for everyone at the Institute when I tell you how excited we are to see this vision become a reality."

The Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery at St. David's North Austin Medical Center is in the process of on-boarding member hospitals and will collect and analyze data from these three affiliate hospitals, as well as the Institute, creating the world's first multi-hospital, multi-specialty and multi-system analysis of performance in the delivery of care for patients undergoing da Vinci surgical procedures.

The data analysis will be performed at the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery and will be paired with a performance enhancement implementation program at each facility. The combined resources of data acquisition, data analysis, and a performance enhancement implementation program will allow member hospitals to not only understand their strengths and weaknesses, but also implement changes for quality improvement based on their own data, the collective data of the group and the strengths of member hospitals.

As another means of drawing collective value from the member facilities, the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery has also created regular forums for member hospitals to gather and participate in innovative thought sharing and process improvement development.

"What we are doing is redefining surgery, as well as improving the care we can deliver to our patients, surgeons and staff," Fagin said. "I truly believe that we are not only bringing value to the future of delivering da Vinci surgical services, but this collaborative performance enhancement network also has the potential to have a positive and lasting impact on the future of health care delivery as a whole."

The Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery at St. David's North Austin Medical Center was launched in March 2011. It features an educational epicenter teaching best practices for hospital leadership, surgeons and surgical teams involved in the delivery of robotic-assisted da Vinci surgery. The Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery is an international treatment, training and research center that combines excellence in robotic-assisted surgery and outcomes with education and training.

St. David's North Austin Medical Center

St. David's North Austin Medical Center, located at 12221 North Mopac Expressway, is part of St. David's HealthCare, one of the largest health systems in Texas, which was recognized as one of the top 15 health systems in the U.S. by Thomson Reuters in January 2012. The 332-bed multi-specialty, acute care facility is dedicated to the highest level of women's health services, including maternity and newborn care with Level I, II and III nurseries at the adjacent St. David's Women's Center of Texas, as well as a 24-hour emergency department, the Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery, heart and vascular center, neurology and neurosurgery, a kidney transplant program, inpatient and outpatient surgery, and acute inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, among many others. For more information, please visit StDavids.com.

Media Contacts:
Levente Smith or Kristin Marcum
Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations
(512) 472-9599

SOURCE Texas Institute for Robotic Surgery