Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Josie Robertson Surgery Center, an outpatient facility located in Manhattan, doubles as a testing ground for new ideas and data tracking technology for surgical patients, according to a New York Times article.
A few of the new ideas built into the surgery center include:
1. Patients are given plastic tracking badges to track their location in real time. The intake coordinators can come to them.
2. Family waiting rooms are inspired by hotel lobbies and include semiprivate seating as well as electronics charging stations and an Xbox nook.
3. Using patient locator badges as activity monitors to make sure patients are up and walking after surgery is a potential change for the future.
4. Operating rooms include surgical robots and super-high-definition monitors for anatomical imaging.
5. After surgery patients go to private rooms where nurses monitor their recovery instead of PACUs.
The outpatient surgery center is designed as a "learning lab" to test out new technology for quality improvement, including standardized processes and protocols. The researchers plan to test what additional measures improve the patients' chance of a shorter stay.