The operating theatre represents a complex environment where multiple team processes interact every day to achieve a highly coordinated and consistent outcome. Successful teamwide interactions, in turn, are underpinned by reliable information sharing and easy access to curated up-to-date resources. With the right systems in place to deliver the right information to the right people, surgical and perioperative teams are aligned and empowered to perform at their highest level.
Incision Assist is a mobile app that provides a dedicated platform for these teams to prepare, align and interact. Using familiar, intuitive technology, Assist enables teams to capture, access and share customised surgical and perioperative protocols: organised per specialty and per procedure. Unit-specific preparations, patient positionings, draping, equipment setups, materials, surgical steps, workflows and recovery factors (among others) combine to create a highly customizable and easy-to-use in-app environment — accessible at any time, from any place.
Updates can be posted using a speciality-specific updates feed, enabling teams to also communicate directly via the app. This provides team leads and managers with a real-time way of curating and distributing the latest information, providing tight and effective version control and the ability to implement emerging best practices rapidly.
Diederich Cornelisse, Surgical Department Manager at Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands, explains: “The app allows teams to record information in a structured way and implement changes as they arise. It provides staff with peace of mind, point of reference, and a dedicated foundation on which to grow in their teams.
"As I see it, Assist acts as the ‘digital backbone’ of the operating theatre, providing structure to support team performance and a central channel to share information. With everything in one place, your team can perform to their fullest potential.”
Going forward, Assist provides the infrastructure to transform the way that clinical teams access and share the critical information they need to perform at the highest level. New and temporary staff can quickly and efficiently check how things are done at a new hospital or department (down to the level of surgeon-specific workflows and preferences). Training and onboarding programs can be streamlined, providing exactly what staff need to get up to speed fast. A recent feasibility study demonstrated that Assist can be rapidly introduced to a medium-sized teaching hospital to generate high rates of user engagement and satisfaction, with major improvements in team alignment, case preparations and access to critical information.
Of particular note, high-complexity and/or multi-stage procedures can be rapidly and efficiently integrated into coordinated changes in teamwide practice. For example, Assist is currently involved in the LIVEROBOT project, investigating the impact of a structured training programme for the safe implementation of robotic liver surgery across Europe.
To learn more about what Assist can offer you and your teams — and to request access — please visit https://www.incision.care/products/incision-assist
