Newport Beach, Calif.-based DISC Surgery Center is uniquely equipped to excel in outpatient spine care.
A six-year analysis authored by Steven Girdler, MD, affirmed DISC’s strength particularly in outpatient cervical disc replacement. Data from 1,043 patients across two locations found no immediate postoperative transfers, there were no blood transfusions and no readmissions within the immediate perioperative period.
One advantage DISC Surgery Center has in the outpatient disc replacement space is with its volume.
“This isn’t something that we occasionally encounter once or twice a year,” he said. “This is one of the bread and butter procedures that we’re performing on a routine basis. After surgery there are so many workflows that are part of the streamlined process that DISC has established that help get patients up and moving and ready for same-day discharge.”
Part of DISC’s successes also lie in its protocols and workflows. For instance, spine patients are on their feet within an hour or two after surgery, regardless of the case, Dr. Girdler said. Staff and specialists also have their own systems for ensuring the best possible outcomes.
“There’s a very collaborative effort with the anesthesiologist and the nursing staff who have multimodal pain regiments that are built into the system,” Dr. Girdler said. “The entire workflow is streamlined specifically to control pain in that acute period after surgery. Some other things include bowel and voiding protocols to make sure that patients are able to go to the bathroom. These are protocols that go before surgery, during surgery and after surgery, where we might prophylactically give patients a medication to help them urinate after surgery. The entire process, from the beginning, during surgery and after surgery, that leads to this success.”
DISC Surgery Center stands out for doing more complex cases compared to other outpatient spine programs, and one element has been crucial to being a leader, Dr. Girdler said.
The 23-hour stay.
“We have overnight staffing, which is coordination with an entire nursing department, and they can be with that patient from the beginning and have the protocol set for when patients go home. There’s routine follow-up occurring from the surgery center, even when they leave, and that occurs for many weeks after surgery. The facility itself has to be established in a way that will allow it, and there’s a lot of constraints. The 23-hour stay for complex surgery is really a game changer.”
