Springfield Clinic Peoria Surgery Center
By Alexander Germanis
In the mathematic discipline of statistics, a Gaussian curve – often called a bell curve – is used to illustrate probability. The large curve itself represents the average – the majority of data collected. To the right of the curve, however, stand the above average outliers.
When this curve is applied to other aspects of life: school grades, work performance, athletic statistics, etc., those right-side outliers are from where we derive the saying: to be ahead of the curve.
In medicine, for both physician and patient, to be ahead of the curve does not just mean being above average, it translates to mean better performance, better outcomes, and being more advanced in technique. At the new Springfield Clinic Peoria Surgery Center, they are not only opening their doors in a position already ahead of the medical curve in Central Illinois they also aim to stay there.
To Be More, To Do More
Sometimes, in order to be a right outlier on the bell curve, a higher level of skill than the norm is not the only thing needed. Sometimes, a will and daring are in order as well.
During the Reagan era, the proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)– facetiously referred to as the Star Wars program – dared something new in American defense.
Military funding for the SDI was partially allocated to helping the soldiers on the frontline. Springfield Clinic’s David Crawford, MD, FACS, explains how this project led to something that is helping physicians and patients this very day.
“The original premise was that they were going to put a surgeon in a bunker miles away from the front and drones would pick up an injured soldier, bring him back to an armored personnel carrier, and put a surgical robot over him,” Dr. Crawford outlines. “The surgeon [by remote] was going to control the robot in what was essentially a robotic MASH unit.”
“Unfortunately, the connections didn’t work out with the electronics,” the doctor laments, “but they did create the robot.” Intuitive’s Da Vinci surgical robot came from this daring move forward, was approved for general surgery in 2000, and has been in use now for a quarter of a century.
When the Da Vinci first came out, however, the medical community was looking elsewhere. A minimally invasive method using small incisions and a camera, laparoscopic surgery, was “the rage,” as Dr. Crawford puts it.
But his now-retired partner, Dr. Tom Rossi, saw the potential benefits of robotics and got his friend and colleague on board. “It was 2002 and I was skeptical because I had been in a minimally invasive fellowship,” Dr. Crawford recalls. “But I tried it out and thought, wow, this is really where it’s going. This thing is awesome! Tom and I then talked the Peoria Surgical Group into buying one. The surgical community as a whole gave some resistance to it, but it’s taken off.”
Outpatient Embrace
The more robotics have been utilized in the surgical space the more patients have caught wind of their advantages. Because of the efficiency and relative ease of use of robotics, the threshold has been lowered for many surgeons to perform things like hernia surgeries as a minimally invasive procedure compared to the traditional open method.
“Robotics make suturing of the hole shut really easy and, of course, all dissection is easier,” Dr. Crawford confirms. “And the literature shows that for recovery, patient satisfaction, return to work, all of that, the patients just do better.”
Springfield Clinic’s Senior Vice-President of Operations Jen Boyer has seen patient acceptance of the robotics firsthand. “We’re in a day and age where patients want to be in the outpatient space. They like the simpleness of it: coming in, getting their surgery, going home. It’s easy to navigate, easy to park, easy to find; it’s efficient.”
“The patient experience drives a lot of what we do,” Jen continues. “Our patients come to us knowledgeable, with expectations. That’s the beauty of having the robot at the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC). Patients come to us because they want to have surgery in an outpatient center, they want the surgeon, they want the robotics. Having that combination at our surgery center is a game changer.”
Patients may help drive the expectations of an ASC, but payers like Medicare and insurance drive much of what can actually be done. The more approval places like the Springfield Clinic Peoria Surgery Center can receive from payers, the more procedures will be able to be performed on an outpatient basis. This will not only benefit the patients, but also the payers as well.
The Next Generations
Since Dr. Crawford first laid his hands on its controls in 2002, he has performed more than 1,400 surgeries with a Da Vinci robot. Now, he trains residents on its use. In 2003, he wrote a curriculum which is still in use today.
“Now there are 22 years’ worth of residents that I’ve trained in robotics who are going out there,” Dr. Crawford declares. “Now that generation, if they’re looking for a job, they ask, ‘Do you have a robot?’ So, now the hospitals have to acquire the equipment.”
Not only is it in the best interest of an ASC or hospital to use robotics, it’s in the best interest of the surgeons as well. “It’s definitely multidisciplinary,” says Dr. Crawford. “Cardiac surgeons are doing aortic valves with it. ENTs are taking out the thyroid and parathyroid glands with it. A surgeon could use it for all their procedures in the chest or abdomen if there wasn’t something in the patient’s history that would prohibit one from using it.”
The learning curve is also something to be accentuated. The act of tying knots during laparoscopic surgery can be so difficult a task, Dr. Crawford says if he were to train a layperson like Jen in their application, it could take weeks, months, or even years for her to become proficient. “If I could set her down at the robot,” he amends, “she could be proficient in hours.”
That evolution in technology is, in turn, pushing an evolution in the rising generations of surgeons. “They come out of residency with that knowledge, expertise, and expectation that that’s how they’re going to be operating on patients,” Jen confirms. “As we wanted to stay ahead of that curve in the surgery center, it drove us to bring the robot on board.”
A Jewel in the Rough
When you or a loved one needs medical aid, navigating the seemingly endless lists of hospitals, surgery centers, and clinics can feel like plumbing the labyrinthine depths of a coal mine. It’s so easy to lose one’s way and fear one might not have made the best choice out of the many options available.
With the newly opening Springfield Clinic Peoria Surgery Center, the use of cutting-edge technology utilized by highly trained surgeons should help eliminate those fears.
“We want the Peoria market to understand the jewel they have in that surgery center as they get up and running,” Jen says. “And we have great, rockstar surgeons there. What a great combination!”
“We want to broaden your expectations of outpatient surgery from gallbladders to complex abdominal walls, adrenalectomy, bowel resections, hysterectomies, things like that,” Dr. Crawford adds. “We have great surgeons, a great facility, and a whole new set of procedures that you can go there to have done, spend a night or two, and then go home.”
Ultimately, when it comes to medical care, that’s the most important part of being ahead of the curve – being able to go home and get back to living life, also ahead of the curve.
Springfield Clinic Peoria Surgery Center is located at 7309 North Knoxville Avenue in Peoria, Illinois. If you are a patient, speak with your provider about scheduling a procedure at our location or call (309) 495-0200 to request a consultation. For more information, visit www.springfieldclinic.com.
