Lee Rubin, MD, held his iPhone up to his computer’s webcam during a recent conference call to show the participants video proof of how well patients do after joint replacement surgery when advanced pain control practices meet minimally invasive surgical techniques. A short clip showed a woman with a walker moving with purpose through a hospital hallway. “This was 90 minutes after she had her hip replaced,” said Dr. Rubin, a hip and knee specialist at Yale Medicine and an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. “See how fast she’s walking? I had trouble keeping up.”

The woman was one of the hundreds of patients who’ve had their knees and hips replaced by Yale Medicine surgeons since 2018, when a building on the health system’s main campus was renovated and turned into a hospital outpatient surgery space dedicated to providing cutting-edge orthopedic care. 

Having the resources and experts on staff to develop innovations in outpatient surgery — and test their effectiveness through clinical research — keeps Yale Medicine at the forefront of what’s happening in same-day joint replacements. “Enhanced pain management protocols have empowered us — along with the minimally invasive techniques of surgeons and the incredible work of our physical therapists who work with patients in post-op — to discharge patients on the day of surgery,” says Jinlei Li, MD, PhD, Yale Medicine anesthesiologist and an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine.