Building a Robotic Acute Care Surgical Program (RASC-P): Lessons Learned

To provide insight into the development of a Robotic Acute Care Surgical Program and to discuss the barriers and breakthroughs along the way. The field of surgery is constantly evolving, and, as such, trauma and acute care surgery and hospital administrators must continue to develop their programs to maintain quality care and quality outcomes for patients. Most recently, the field of robotics has become the focus among many surgical innovators. Recent literature has demonstrated the areas in which robotic surgery has outperformed laparoscopic or open procedures. As hospitals work towards being centers of excellence within their communities, they must find ways to integrate new technology into their existing care paradigms. This paper illustrates the creation of a Robotic Acute Care Surgical Program (RASC-P) at a tertiary, Level I trauma center and seeks to provide insight into the successes and failures of that venture. Our hope is that the observations we made and lessons we learned can be applied to acute care surgery (ACS) programs across the country in order to implement robotics efficiently, effectively, and safely.