Implementing Robotic Assisted Technology for Joint Replacement Surgeries in Veterans

John Murray, senior director of government accounts, Stryker, discusses how placing innovative surgical technology in Veterans Affairs hospitals can improve care quality for veterans with arthritis.

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Welcome back to PopHealth Perspectives, a conversation with the Population Health Learning Network, where we combine expert commentary and exclusive insight into key issues in population health management and more.

In this episode, John Murray discusses implementing robotic technology for total joint replacement surgeries in Veterans Integrated Services Networks.

My name is John Murray. I'm the senior director of government accounts for Stryker Orthopedics, and that includes all our joint replacement, for trauma and extremities and the spine. Pretty much anything you can implant into your body that's metal.

I have a small team at Stryker comprised of 100% veterans. Prior to coming to Stryker, I worked for 30 years in the Air Force. I worked in the medical community for a large portion of that time. I worked on active duty with nany of the people who work for me now. It's a pleasure to have them come to Stryker and work with us and continue to serve veterans, and what a great program Stryker has that allows a group of veterans like us to have this connectivity.

Can you briefly discuss the prevalence of arthritis and joint replacement in veterans?

Because of their duties, deployments, and the type of training they do, there’s a much higher prevalence of arthritis in veterans than there is in the civilian community. In fact, according to the CDC, 1 in 3 veterans has some type of arthritis. This is a big issue in this community.

And what would you say are the unmet needs of this patient population?

I think what you see is really good surgeons in the community, both in the VA hospitals and the military. Sometimes you'll see them get a bad name, but my experience is they're very good surgeons. What we need to do is provide the technology that we're getting in the civilian community to our veterans, and that's something Stryker can do.

Can you tell us how Mako SmartRobotics works and what makes this program unique?

I have been in surgeries and seen how it works, and it's pretty neat. What's unique on Mako is we're using a 3D CT-scanned image to look at the bone. The more you can see, the less you have to cut, and the less you have to cut, the better the outcome is for the patient.

It incorporates what we call AccuStop, which is kind of a haptic technology that ensures the surgeon is not exceeding any of the danger zones during a knee or hip surgery. It is much more precise than doing manual surgeries.

Could you comment on how the data collection is set up and how clinicians can use it?

Stryker has collected information on patients for some time. We call it a SOMA database. In that, we can use very insightful analytics to determine different people and different sizes and what might work best in each situation.

Prior to a surgery, one of the folks at Striker do what's called templating with the surgeon, where they figure out what a patient’s anatomy is and apply that templating during surgery to have better outcomes.

You recently implemented this technology across a network of VA hospitals. Can you discuss the real-world uses of Mako SmartRobotics that inspired this?

Sure. There are 18 Veterans Integrated Services Networks (VISNs), or regional headquarters for the VA. We provided the Mako Robot to one of those VISNs, across the spectrum of hospitals. We'd love to continue that in a lot more VISNs.

When we look at the prevalence of Mako in the civilian community, 48% of residency programs have a Mako Robot. Residencies are the programs where surgeons are trained. The largest training platform for residents in the country is the VA. While we're happy about getting the technology into that one VISN, we'd love to get it into more.

On top of that, in the next level of training, specifically on knee and hip replacement, 65% of those fellowship programs have Mako. There has never been a situation where robotics entered the space and then went away. It's always growing. Stryker is the leader in that technology. Why not give the veterans the same level of care that we're given in the civilian community?

Thank you, John. That's it for my questions. Is there anything else that I missed or that you'd like to add?

I just want to highlight that Stryker working in the veteran community and having a 100% veteran team like mine is certainly part of it, but there are a lot of other programs we do.

We just donated $55,000 to K9 For Warriors, which is the largest canine program for trauma-related military injury. We have a record, going back years, of taking care of K9 For Warriors and working with that program, so it is very rewarding across the entire company.

I’d also add, if there is someone out there living with joint pain, it's important to consult with your physician and come up with a treatment plan that's right for you. But if you want to learn more about joint health, you can go to MakoSmartRobotics.com.

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of PopHealth Perspectives. For similar content or to join our mailing list, visit populationhealthnet.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.