TMC’s continuing quest for excellence

Part of the challenge of operating a hospital is that it’s difficult to take a moment to reflect on the work that’s been done. A successful surgery is followed by another surgery on the schedule that demands attention. An award as Tucson’s best hospital from U.S. News & World Report? There’s a tiny moment for celebration, but then the need to keep delivering innovative, world-class care for TMC patients kicks back in.

Earlier detection of lung cancer

One way that Tucson Medical Center continues to advance quality of care is by investing in Intuitive Surgical Inc.’s Ion endolumina system, a new robotic platform for minimally-invasive biopsy in the peripheral lung. This system allows for earlier biopsy and treatment for suspected lung cancers, in a matter of hours rather than weeks. Doctors can discover and treat the cancer before it is in advanced stages, which creates higher rates of survival and better outcomes. Typically, most patients are already in stage three or four lung cancer by the time they discover the disease, with only about 20% surviving more than five years. By being able to biopsy nodules earlier, survivability can be dramatically increased.

“This means patients no longer have to wait until lung nodules grow to a certain size in order to have a biopsy,” said pulmonologist Dr. Chang-Kun “Charles” Choi. “It enables doctors to discover and treat the cancer before it is in advanced stages, creating higher rates of survival and better outcomes for patients.”

VR training

Tucson Medical Center is also partnering with 3lbXR to launch a first-of-itskind virtual reality training program for nurses, patient care technicians, and environmental services staff. The platform allows trainees to learn from their mistakes by practicing high-risk and problematic tasks in a safe environment. The training covers scenarios such as c. difficile sanitation, patient room cleaning, fall prevention and suicide prevention, providing a realistic experience by recreating TMC rooms in the training modules. The program, which is funded by the TMC Health Foundation, includes a research study that aims to enroll more than 200 registered nurses to measure confidence and competence for specific clinical skills using virtual reality training modules.

“Like other simulation education, VR has the ability to offer a safe space for practice of significant skills for numerous health care workers,” said Anissa Guzman, director of Professional Practice. “Mistakes can be made without real consequences to patients, which allows for modification of TMC practices that fall outside of expectations for safe, high-quality patient care. Repeated opportunities to work through the proper steps or processes for high-risk events provides the great opportunity for performance improvement in a virtual space that can be translated to real practice in the health care setting.”

Future Innovations

This time next year, there will certainly be other new innovations to announce. “Compassion is still the core of healthcare, but technology allows us to provide a higher standard of care than ever before,” said Dr. Josh Lee, Tucson Medical Center Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President. “We want to make every part of the process better for both our patients and our staff, while also focusing on the tradition of excellence our community has relied on for nearly 80 years.”