Collaborative VA-UK surgery project wins in national “Shark Tank” pitch competition
By Josh Shepherd
A proposal for standardizing Operating Room (OR) setups was among the top 10 winners in the Shark Tank pitch competition at the 2021 Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) Innovation Experience (iEX) in Washington, DC last October. The pitch, developed through a collaboration of Lexington VA and University of Kentucky surgeons, demonstrated how standardized OR setups have the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs by millions of dollars.
Andrew Harris, MD, Program Director of the VA Patient Safety fellowship and assistant professor of Urology at UK, made the pitch at the VHA-iEX on behalf of the development team. The idea for the pitch began in 2019 with Dr. Harris and Charles Campbell, DO, a UK General Surgery resident and VA Patient Safety fellow.
The two surgeons recognized that developing consistent OR setups for specific procedures can reduce the amount of time it takes to ready the OR for surgery. Standardized setups enable surgery staff to “have what they need when they need it.” With the participation of several surgeons from the departments of Urology and General Surgery, specifically Dr. Erik Ballert, Director of VA Surgery, and Dr. Melissa Newcomb, the pilot study focused on standardizing the setup for Laparascopic Cholecystectomy.
Creating a standard OR setup led to a 100 percent decrease in variation and a 50 percent increase in efficiency. Results showed that standard setups – having the right tools in the right place at the right time - had the potential to improve outcomes.
The OR Standardization proposal was one of 16 out of over 350 submissions that were selected for Shark Tank presentations at the VHA-iEX. The pitch received three bids from other VA hospitals, meaning that these hospitals commit personnel and resources to implement the project.
“The [iEX] event is a great way to spreading the word about innovative practices being utilized at VA health care systems across the country,” Dr. Harris said.
The positive response has also led to an expansion of the project at the VA Hospital. Dr. Brittany Levy, UK General Surgery resident and the 2021-22 VA Patient Safety fellow, has already developed several other standardized OR setups for an expanding number of procedures.
“I am very proud of the project that Dr. Harris, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Levy, and the OR team here at the Lexington VA Healthcare System did on Operating Room Preparation Standardization. This project will help us become a safer and more efficient operating room,” commented Dr. Erik Ballert, Director of Surgery at the Lexington VA Hospital.
