Discussions in surgEry • Discussions En chirurgiEOptimization of communication in the surgical program via instant messaging, Web-based surveys, newsletters, websites, smartphones and telemedicine: the experience of Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital A surgical program comprises many different essential parts, including the operating room (OR), post-anesthesia care unit, same day surgery unit, preadmission clinic, inpatient floors, medical device reprocessing unit and numerous nursing staff, support staff and medical staff. Poor communication at times can lead to poor patient care. Effective and efficient communication between these many disparate locations and caregivers requires the use of a variety of communication modalities, such as the smartphone, which has been shown to be safe and effective in this application.
1Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital is a 469-bed facility in Oakville, Ont., and, in 2016, performed 13 401 surgical procedures. In December 2015 we moved to a new 1.5 million square foot facility, three times larger than the previous hospital. This introduced a variety of communication challenges which we approached in the manner described in this article.