ALL NEEDS COVERED Don't assume the pharmacy will have everything post-op patients need.

Goodie Bag
Send Patients Home With Recovery Tools

By going the extra mile, you can make sure patients have everything they need after surgery. Why not phone the patient's pharmacy before surgery to arrange for post-op medications? That way, you know the scripts will be ready on the trip home and patients will have them in hand immediately. You can also send patients home with a procedure-specific post-op home-care kit. In it is everything patients need for wound care: instructions, antibiotic ointment, gauze pads, Band-Aids, Q-tips, even homeopathic anti-bruising tablets. In the pre-op visit or consultation, when we show patients their "after-the-party, take-home gift bags," they really appreciate that we have everything covered. And we can be assured that they'll have everything they need to optimize their home care. The alternative is to say, "Go to your pharmacy and get this, this and this."

There's a little added cost, but it's Marketing 101. Demonstrating that kind of forethought and consideration for patients is one of the ways we ensure that we have very few vacant spaces on our surgery schedule.

Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Summit Surgery Center
Beverly Hills, Calif.
[email protected]