Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
“Assuring optimum treatment for the complex needs of the seriously injured, on an emergent 24 hour, 7 day basis, is a highly demanding health service. This requires strong commitment by both the hospital and the medical staff to effectively function. However, medical staff commitment is deteriorating due to a wide range of economic factors. This in turn is undermining the stability of regional trauma centers across the nation.”
Strengthening Trauma Hospitals for The Future
As innovators in the field of trauma care, B+A is uniquely qualified to advise hospitals on their Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (TACS) program challenges. Due to an increasing shortage of general surgeons and requirements for surgeons to maintain their surgical acumen, many hospitals use an Acute Care Surgery hospitalist model with trauma surgeons covering surgical/critical care responsibilities on behalf of the larger medical staff. This can, in turn, create more enjoyable practices for surgeons and stabilize trauma and emergency general surgery call coverage.
The TACS model can create new strategic opportunities for hospitals, including:
Application of the trauma system multi-disciplinary approach to other surgical disciplines (such as geriatric fracture care).
In-house surgical hospitalist duties, such as chest tube placement, central line placement, and ventilator management.
Surgical safety net to include first response to in-house surgical emergencies for other surgical specialists, such as assisting an OB surgeon who encounters problems performing a C-section.
Assigned general surgery emergency call to provide surgical opportunities for general surgeons.
Enhanced hospital reputation among EMS and area hospital for accepting surgical cases, including complex cases.
Assessment, admission, and stabilization of emergency cases for other surgical specialists at night.
Opportunities for general surgeons to build elective surgery practices (e.g., robotics, minimally invasive surgery).
Creation of hospital or healthcare system Surgical Centers of Excellence to unify and escalate surgical offerings and optimize surgical quality.
Components of the Project
The components of a typical TACS project may include the following:
Engagement of TACS stakeholders in a collaborative process to ensure surgeons and medical staff feel heard and have opportunities to contribute to solutions.
Assessment of the current roles of surgeons in the hospital, specifically trauma and general surgeons, with a specific focus on compliance with American College of Surgeon’s trauma verification standards.
Identification of challenges and call gaps in subspecialty fields (e.g., neurosurgery, facial fractures).
Facilitate surgeon skill set analysis and encouragement of strategic opportunities for service and market expansion.
Benchmarks for surgical workloads and productivity using national and industry data sources.
Exploration TACS surgeon and mid-level staffing model options and development plans for transitioning to the new TACS model.
Partnership with the surgeon group to assess compensation, optimize contracts and incentives, and maximize trauma professional billing fees.
Assistance in recruitment of new acute care surgeons and other medical staff.
We’ve Got Your Back for the Long Term
B+A traditionally provides strong support to former clients. Our clients will tell you they feel supported by us as long as needed, rarely at added cost. We know that hospitals often need months or even years to fully digest the project results and make the decision to proceed with the recommendations. If circumstances change, we are equipped to reevaluate the recommendations. We stand by our work.