MDNews - Greater Boston

my opinion ha s the sa me level of ca re as a hospita l. It a llows us to deliver care the way we wa nt to deliver it. "As physicians, I like to say we are for patients f irst, a nd we go into medicine to help people. So ever y thing we do is centered around this. We have hired the best people, and we have the equipment we need to prov ide t he best possible ca re. We have created a n environment where we have ever y thing we need to do procedures with the highest qua lity and sa fet y sta nda rds. We a re able to shape the experience a nd the equipment for individua l patients' needs." A c c r e d i t e d b y t h e A m e r i c a n A s s o c i a t i o n f o r A c c r e d i t a t i o n o f A m b u l a t o r y S u r g e r y F a c i l i t i e s (A A A A SF), one of the gold sta nda rds i n a m b u l a t o r y a c c r e d i t a t i o n , t h e endova scu la r su ite meet s st r i n gent requi rements cover i ng a w ide a r ray of patient sa fet y g uidelines a nd pro- tocols. T hese i nclude ensu r i n g t hat surgeons have hospita l priv i leges for a ll procedures; having intensive-ca re level professiona ls on ha nd; set ti n g stringent g uidelines for t he surg ica l s u it e (equ ipment , d r u g s , a nd ot her deta ils); holding the center to hospita l sta nda rds; a nd requiring peer review, oversight a nd tracking of data . B e c a u s e a c c r e d it a t ion i s not ye t ma ndated, Dr. Eid says theirs is one of only a sma ll percentage of a mbulator y suites nationwide that has undergone the rigorous accreditation process. " The numbers a re shock ing ly low, and I'm proud to say we have the highest accreditation for qua lit y in ter ms of contingency plans," he says. " What if we have a power outage or a n ea r thqua ke? It 's a ll in our policy manua l, and we had to show what to do in ever y situation. We have the sa me level of qua lit y a nd attention to deta il as the hospita ls." Drs. Eid, Patel a nd A rbid per for m a number of of f ice-ba sed dia g nostic procedures, including angiography and dia lysis access a nd ma intena nce. " W hen someone has a dia lysis f istula or a g ra f t that needs to be ma inta ined, t hat ma intena nce ca n be per for med here," Dr. A rbid says. " We place por ts for chemot herapy so t hat , instead of sending patients who a re dia g nosed w ith ca ncer to the hospita l, they ca n come here. T he per son who check s pat ient s i n i s t he sa me per son who brings them to the endovascula r suite, and it's the same person who wa lks them back to recover y. They see one or t wo faces a nd don't have to be tra nspor ted t h rou g h end les s hospit a l h a l lway s , going from one a rea to the nex t without having continuity of the people involved in their care. Our center a llows for more personable ser vice. It 's more eff icient so patients a re able to come in, leave faster a nd resume their lives." While most procedures can be done in the o"ce, Dr. Eid says some patients may require a hospita l level of care, found at Saint Anne's Hospital, located across the street from the vascular center. Being a part of Prima CA R E with over 150 prima r y ca re physicia ns a nd spe- cia lists enables the team at the vascular center to provide the kind of integrated a nd coordinated ca re that is essentia l for optima l outcomes. Dr. A rbid says t hat P r i m a CA R E 's i nt eg rat ed ca re deliver y system a llows patients to get the best help with smoking cessation, cholesterol ma na gement a nd dieta r y cha nges, a l l impor ta nt for the f uture of a ny patient with vascula r disease. "A multispecialty group such as Prima CA R E a l lows a surgeon like me to be the best surgeon possible because the pr i ma r y ca re doctor a nd mysel f a re linked to the sa me electronic medica l records," Dr. Eid explains. " We can com- municate ver y easily. We a ll sha re the testing, so a f ter the patients undergo the test, a ll the doctors can see them. As things progress, we will be able to ta ke ca re of patients without their having to go somewhere else for ca re." Drs. Eid, A rbid a nd Patel a re a lso quick to point out that ma na g ing the broad umbrel la of va scu la r disea ses does not a lways include surgica l inter- vention, even t houg h ma ny patient s b e l ie ve t h a t r efer r a l t o a v a s c u l a r surgeon mea ns they need surger y. "I think the term surgeon is actua lly a misnomer," says Dr. Patel, who views h i m sel f a nd h is col lea g ues more a s patient advocates. Instead, I like to think of us as the ultimate end-level specialists for any vascular disease problem outside of the hea r t. One of the first things I a lways say to a patient when I come in is 'I know I'm a surgeon, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you need surgery.'" EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY In the three years that the endovas- cu la r suite ha s been open, t he tea m has worked on hundreds of cases with excellent results. But world-class care is only part of the story. M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S S O U T H O F B O S T O N ■ 2 016 0 7

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