How a small ASC woos docs, public
No surgery center is too small to develop effective marketing aimed at primary care physicians and the general public. That is what Regional Medical Surgery Center in Kitty Hawk, NC, proved with its "Sand Rounds" and "Health Sense" programs.
Regional Medical Surgery Center is in the Outer Banks, amid a community of just 25,000 year-round residents. It is affiliated with Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, NC, which is a one-hour drive away.
With just one OR, Regional Medical performed about 400 cases a year. The center recently opened another OR in response to a gradual increase in case volume.
Sand Rounds’ at surgery center
The surgery center wanted local residents and their referring physicians to know that they don’t have to drive an hour for same-day surgery. So the center began inviting primary-care physicians to monthly "Sand Rounds" seminars featuring surgeons talking about a particular specialty area or procedure, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. (The name is an island take-off on "grand rounds" that take place in hospitals.)
The seminars are scheduled for 7 p.m. on a weeknight and last about 11¼2 hours. They feature heavy hors d’oeuvres and tours of the center, says nursing director Cindy Nilson, RN. Only one surgeon is scheduled to speak at each session, and the surgeons are eager for the opportunity to address the referring physicians, Nilson says.
Primary care physicians also appreciate the chance to gain some additional medical knowledge while socializing with their peers, she says. "This is a way of pulling [physicians] together," Nilson says. "Doctors that are primary physicians in this area seldom get away [to conferences] because they don’t have the backup."
In fact, Regional Medical Surgery Center hopes to be able to offer continuing medical education credit for the seminars. The cost of the program is minimal just $200 to $300 for the food at each event, Nilson says.
In "Health Sense," Regional Medical Surgery Center invites the general public to learn about a common same-day surgery procedure. Again, surgeons offer their time to lead the seminar, which is advertised in the local newspaper.
"A lot of people aren’t aware of what we’re doing here, of what you can have done in an outpatient surgery center," says Nilson. "Health Sense’ spreads the word [about the center] and increases education of what’s going on in surgery today."
[Editor’s note: The "Same-Day Surgery Idea Forum" is a new feature of Same-Day Surgery that highlights a single program or project at a same-day surgery center or hospital. If you have an idea you’d like to share with readers, please contact Michele Cohen Marill, Editor, P.O. Box 740056, Atlanta, GA 30374. Fax: (404) 262-7837. Or contact Joy Daughtery, managing editor, by calling (404) 262-5420. E-mail: [email protected].]
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