Success Stories

Incremental Surgical Volume

Attracting new, incremental patients is critical to the success of a hospital’s surgical program.

The implementation of a successful da Vinci Surgery program — where skilled physicians provide a minimally invasive approach for complex procedures — can be a key factor in drawing patients to your hospital.

An example of such a procedure is partial nephrectomy. This procedure involves removal of the cancerous cells only, thus sparing the kidney. A recent study has shown that sparing a patient’s kidney rather than fully removing it can have a tremendous impact on long-term health.

A patient who has researched his/her options is likely to seek out a hospital with a strong reputation for this type of procedure rather than settling for a radical (complete) nephrectomy. As such, this procedure is likely to draw incremental cases, including patients from outside the hospital’s traditional catchment area.

As physicians have gained experience with da Vinci Surgery, more and more are carrying out broader, more complex procedures like robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. This is because they now have a highly effective, minimally invasive approach that is both teachable and repeatable. As such, this approach supports the quality and safety standards that are a top concern for both patients and hospitals.

As a result of their clinical success, surgeons and hospitals often develop a reputation for excellent minimally invasive outcomes with da Vinci Surgery. This clinical distinction can help them attract patients from a wider catchment area — sometimes extending to other states and countries.

As shown in the chart below, after establishing a da Vinci Surgery program, a large metropolitan hospital in California drew a significant number of new prostatectomy cases. In addition to generating higher volume, this da Vinci Surgery program also supplanted both open surgery and laparoscopy.

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