Show and tell: Letting outsiders see into the OR

Forget going out to the waiting room to talk to patients' families after the operation; one Cincinnati orthopedic surgeon lets them watch.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. July 26, 2004.

"Look at the size of that vein," orthopedic surgeon Timothy E. Kremchek, MD, tells the parents and 13-year-old brother of 16-year-old Caleb Deeds after he opens up Caleb's elbow for ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction.

Caleb's family is on the other side of a glass that separates a viewing area from the operating room where Dr. Kremchek is working.

Some might say Dr. Kremchek is taking an unnecessary risk in an out-of-control liability climate. Dr. Kremchek believes he is taking the ultimate step in patient communication.

The Deeds family welcomed the openness.

Marilyn and Galen Deeds each crack a small smile from the edge of their cushy black leather chairs and look at the television screen as physician assistant Megan Chojnacki, who is in the room with them, points to the thick, dark healthy vein Dr. Kremchek is talking about.

The Deeds stand up and get closer to the screen to see the inside of their son's elbow. On the video screen, Dr. Kremchek points out the torn ligament. The Deeds turn their heads to the right to look out the glass. They see Dr. Kremchek and two others hunched over Caleb's arm.

Through an open intercom system that allows patients' families to hear the operating room staff's conversation, the sound of the instruments whirring and beeping, and the '70s music the staff is listening to, Dr. Kremchek tells the Deeds family that they'll take a tendon out of Caleb's arm to repair his elbow.