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Association Between Surgeon Technical Skills ...

The findings of this study suggest that there is wide variation in technical skill among practicing surgeons, accounting for more than 25% of the variation in patient outcomes. Higher colectomy technical skill scores appear to be associated with lower complication rates for colectomy and for all other procedures performed by a surgeon. Efforts to improve surgeon technical skills may result in better patient outcomes.

Stulberg, J., et al. Association Between Surgeon Technical Skills and Patient Outcomes JAMA Surg. Published online August 19, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2020.3007

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Prolonged Operative Duration Increases Risk of ...

This study demonstrates comprehensively that prolonged operative time can increase the likelihood of developing SSI across a broad array of surgical procedures and surgical specialties. Overall, pooled analyses demonstrated that patients with extended operative times across a wide range of procedures had approximately twice the likelihood of developing SSI, and on overage, the mean operative time was approximately 30 min longer in patients with SSIs compared with those patients without SSIs. Nevertheless, given the importance of SSIs on patient outcome and health care economics including hospital reimbursement penalties, hospitals should focus efforts to reduce operative time. This may include strategies such as the adoption of new technologies that can help improve operative efficiency, utilization of specialized care teams, ensuring that operating staff are not overworked or fatigued, and better preoperative planning. These strategies should be considered in light of other possible risk factors for SSI.

Cheng, H., et al. Prolonged Operative Duration Increases Risk of Surgical Site Infections: A Systematic Review. Surgical Infections. Aug 2017.722-735. http://doi.org/10.1089/sur.2017.089

Peer-Reviewed Abstracts
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Facilitating the Safe Diffusion of Surgical ...

This article highlights novel strategies that may assist surgeons and hospitals in addressing the challenges associated with incorporating emerging procedures and technology with safe patient care. Peer coaching by experienced surgeons has been proposed to assist with safe surgical skill acquisition in practice. Hospital credentialing committees may better utilize expert surgeons as proctors for less-experienced surgeons who apply for privileges to perform new procedures. Furthermore, opportunities exist in leveraging industry's financial incentives with surgeons’ drive for clinical advancements. The strategies described in this article offer ways to ensure procedural competency to benefit and protect patients when surgical innovations enter practice.

Pradarelli, J.C., et al. Facilitating the Safe Diffusion of Surgical Innovations Annals of Surgery: April 2019 - Volume 269 - Issue 4 - p 610–611. DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000003134.

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Evolution in surgical training: what can we ...

Surgery already takes lessons from the airline industry and can take similar lessons from professional sport with regards to training. The relationship of a coach and elite sportsman is similar in many respects to that of trainer and trainee. As surgical technology advances, so must the teaching tools and strategies to train the next generation of surgeon.

Chand, M., et al. Evolution in surgical training: what can we learn from professional coaches and elite athletes? J R Soc Med. 2014 Jul; 107(7): 290–292. doi: 10.1177/0141076814532395

Peer-Reviewed Manuscripts
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Correlation of High-Volume Crowdsourced ...

Journal of Endourology

Kowalewski T, Comstock B, Sweet R, Schaffhausen C, Menhadji A, Averch T, Box G, Brand T, Ferrandino M, Kaouk J, Knudsen B, Landman J, Lee B, Schwartz B, McDougall E, Lendvay TS. Correlation of High-Volume Crowdsourced Evaluation and Tool Motion Metrics for Surgical Skills Assessment: The Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Skills (BLUS) Validation Project. Journal of Endourology [in Review, 2016].

Skill Assessment of Surgeons Performing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Relationship Between Crowdsourced Review

Skill Assessment of Surgeons Performing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Relationship Between Crowdsourced Review

Ghani KR, Comstock B, Miller DC, Dunn RL, Kim T, Linsell S, Lane BR, Sarle R, Lendvay T, Montie J, Peabody JO, The Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative. Skill Assessment of Surgeons Performing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Relationship Between Crowdsourced Review. American Urological Association National Meeting. Boston MA USA May 2017. [BEST ABSTRACT - PLENARY]

Correlation of High-Volume Crowdsourced Evaluation and Tool Motion Metrics for Surgical Skills Assessment: The Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Skills (BLUS) Validation Project

Journal of Endourology

Kowalewski T, Comstock B, Sweet R, Schaffhausen C, Menhadji A, Averch T, Box G, Brand T, Ferrandino M, Kaouk J, Knudsen B, Landman J, Lee B, Schwartz B, McDougall E, Lendvay TS. Correlation of High-Volume Crowdsourced Evaluation and Tool Motion Metrics for Surgical Skills Assessment: The Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Skills (BLUS) Validation Project. Journal of Endourology [in Review, 2016].

Assessing Surgical Skills Among Urology Resident Applicants: Can Crowdsourcing Identify the Next Generation of Surgeons?

Journal of Endourology

Vernez SL, Huynh V, Osann K, Okhunov Z, Landman J, Clayman RV. Assessing Surgical Skills Among Urology Resident Applicants: Can Crowdsourcing Identify the Next Generation of Surgeons? Journal of Endourology. 2016 Oct 11.

Crowd-sourced assessment of technical skills for validation of basic laparoscopic urologic skills tasks.

The Journal of Urology

Kowalewski TM, Comstock B, Sweet R, Schaffhausen C, Menhadji A, Averch T, Box G, Brand T, Ferrandino M, Kaouk J, Knudsen B, Lendvay TS. Crowd-sourced assessment of technical skills for validation of basic laparoscopic urologic skills tasks. The Journal of Urology. 2016 Jun 30;195(6):1859-65.

Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills for Validation of Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Skills (BLUS) Tasks

Canadian Urological Association Meeting

McDougall E, Kowalewski T, Sweet R, Menhadji A, Averch T, Box G, Brand T, Ferrandino M, Kaouk J, Knudsen B, Landman J, Lee B, Schwartz B, Comstock B, Schaffhausen C, Lendvay T. Crowd-Sourced Assessment of Technical Skills for Validation of Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Skills (BLUS) Tasks. Canadian Urological Association Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 25th-28th, 2016. [Moderated Poster]

Video-based peer review of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in statewide quality improvement collaborative

AUA Annual Meeting

Ghani K, Miller D, Lane B, Sarle R, Brachulis A, Linsell S, Kim T-K, Delela D, Monti J, Comstock B, Lendvay T, Peabody J. Video-based peer review of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in statewide quality improvement collaborative. AUA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, May, 2015. [Podium]

Measuring to improve: peer and crowd-sourced assessments of technical skill with robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

European Urology

Ghani KR, Miller DC, Linsell S, Brachulis A, Lane B, Sarle R, Dalela D, Menon M, Comstock B, Lendvay TS, Montie J. Measuring to improve: peer and crowd-sourced assessments of technical skill with robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. European urology. 2016 Apr 30;69(4):547-50.

Crowdsourcing assessment of surgeon dissection of renal artery and vein during robotic partial nephrectomy: a novel approach for quantitative assessment of surgical performance

Journal of Endourology

Powers MK, Boonjindasup A, Pinsky M, Dorsey P, Maddox M, Su LM, Gettman M, Sundaram CP, Castle EP, Lee JY, Lee BR. Crowdsourcing assessment of surgeon dissection of renal artery and vein during robotic partial nephrectomy: a novel approach for quantitative assessment of surgical performance. Journal of Endourology. 2016 Apr 1;30(4):447-52.

Validation of the AUA BLUS Tasks

Journal of Urology

Kowalewski T, Sweet R, Lendvay T, Menhadji A, Averch T, Box G, Brand T, Ferrandino M, Kaouk J, Knudsen B, Landman J, Lee B, Schwartz B, Comstock B, Schaffhausen C, McDougall E,. Validation of the AUA BLUS Tasks. Journal of Urology 2016, Apr 1; 195(4) Part 1: 998–1005.

Crowd-sourced assessment of technical skills: an opportunity for improvement in the assessment of laparoscopic surgical skills

The American Journal of Surgery

Deal SB, Lendvay TS, Haque MI, Brand T, Comstock B, Warren J, Alseidi A. Crowd-sourced assessment of technical skills: an opportunity for improvement in the assessment of laparoscopic surgical skills. The American Journal of Surgery. 2016 Feb 29;211(2):398-404.