For Alex Vaccaro, MD, PhD, one of his best investments at Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedics serves as a tool in and out of the operating room.
Dr. Vaccaro, president of Rothman Orthopaedics, joined “Becker’s Spine and Orthopedic Podcast” to discuss tech opportunities. Below is an edited excerpt.
Question: What are some most valuable tech resources that Rothman has invested in over the last five years?
Dr. Alex Vaccaro: You could look at Rothman as a business, and you could look at Rothman when it comes to treatment of patients. I think the most important [investment] is artificial intelligence. The one thing that we get hung up on when we do a procedure is with so many check boxes for prior authorization, then you have to get an explanation of benefits, then you have to send it to the insurance company, and the insurance company sends it back to you, and then you have to scrub it to make sure that the bill is appropriate. The bill goes to the insurance company and they pay you, but how do you know if you’re being paid according to your contract?
Artificial intelligence can look at a bill and can say if this has been documented appropriately through the medical records because it scanned your preoperative note and it scanned the operative report. It makes sure that the codes are appropriate. It understands what the insurance company wants to see. If the insurance company sends it back, it develops an instantaneous appeal to send it back again, and then it tells you if you were paid according to your contract. That is the most important technological investment that we have, and it’s not just not for private practice. This is for any private equity, hospital system, university system, just to make sure that everyone’s in compliance with the contracts you have.
You could take this technology and you could use it for anything. I would exploit it for patient safety with that concept of checklists. I say to the residents all the time, “go slow to go fast.” I love the checklist concept that pilots use. Do a briefing before you begin the operation. You do the operation, and read the checklist off before you begin the closure. When the case is complete, run the checklist again. Exploiting technology to help us do that is phenomenal.
