Ideas That Work: All-Staff Surgeon Strategy Sessions

Practical pearls from your colleagues

If you want to go beyond the standard meet- and-greet when you add a new surgeon to your facility, consider doing something like UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center did. When the Steamboat Springs, Colorado-based facility added orthopedic spine surgeon J. Alex Sielatycki, MD, to its medical staff, it held a presentation centered on his vision for the future of spine care.

That vision centers around two key words: Motion Preservation, a core component of care Dr. Sielatycki is striving to provide his patients through an FDA trial procedure he is currently offering. “I envision a time in the not-too-distant future when we can offer 100% spinal motion preservation for our patients and no fusions,” he says. To show staff what that vision looks like in practice, Dr. Sielatycki brought in anyone and everyone who takes care of patients— from core staff, fellow physicians and physical therapists to administrative employees and the hospital board — to hear a detailed description of his plan and the part they will play in it.

Not only was the event a hit with everyone in attendance, it also led to a surprising new patient for Dr. Sielatycki. “One of the board members actually enrolled in the FDA trial after hearing the presentation,” he says. OSM