10 Tips for the First Year of a Platelet Gel Program

MARCH 2007

The perfusionist looking to start up a platelet get program outside the CV surgical unit will need to work with a number of other services and clinicians in the hospital – a task that can seem daunting. Tom Hankins, CCP, a 37–year perfusion veteran and founder of a highly successful 7–year old platelet gel program, offers advice on getting started.

1. Find one interested surgeon to start working with.
   Tom worked with an orthopedic trauma surgeon dealing with a very challenging case: a non–compliant, obese, diabetic patient with non–union tibial fracture that wouldn’t heal. In this case the results were dramatic; the break healed in six weeks. The surgeon became interested in trying platelet gel on other cases.
2. Create and actively distribute an informational package for surgeons.
   Include information about platelet gel, how growth factors work, case studies and literature about platelet gel use. Drop it off in surgeons’ mailboxes. And continue to drop off new relevant studies or other information as you find them.
3. Create opportunities to prompt peer–to–peer surgeon discussion.
   Tom saw an opportunity when he ran into a surgeon with whom he had recently worked. He asked how the platelet gel therapy had worked for a particular patient. Another surgeon overhearing the conversation became curious and joined the discussion. The two surgeons were still talking about using platelet gel when Tom left.
4. Follow up with surgeons after cases.
   Show your interest and commitment – follow up personally in a week or so to ask how the patient’s doing.
5. Make sure to seek out younger surgeons.
   While not always true, younger surgeons are often more open to hearing about new ideas. Tom goes a step further and gives a seminar on platelet gel therapy for first year foot ⁄ ankle and podiatry residents.
6. Take steps to ensure that Perfusion keeps control of the platelet gel program at your institution.
   Make arrangements with the hospital so that all decisions related to the platelet gel program are deferred to you. Don’t let other services in the hospital make new or different arrangements for equipment or services. Also, do what’s necessary to ensure the quality and consistency of the service and product you provide. Don’t leave it up to the scrub nurse or other OR staff members that are busy with other tasks during a surgical procedure.
7. Make it easy for the scrub nurses.
   Educate them about the procedure in advance. Reassure them that you will get everything ready for them to make their job as easy as possible. In some cases, Tom has even taken the opportunity to scrub in and get all components of the applicators ready in the sterile field.
8. Get support from manufacturers.
   Work closely with manufacturers to make sure you have the right technology in your institution. Grant Medical Center uses the SmartPReP™ 2 Platelet Concentration System¹ because of its reliability, consistent results and speed of processing; the quick spin time comes in handy on days they do 12 platelet gel cases across different rooms.
9. Stay on top of research.
   Make it a point to regularly search PubMed for the latest information. Then share it.
10. Don’t be discouraged by a seeming lack of initial interest.
    Continue to drop off new information about platelet gel to potentially interested surgeons or services. Tom suggests that the interest in platelet gel cases is similar to that in open–heart cases 30 years ago. At that time in the late 1970s, CABG procedures were just beginning to grow in popularity; they exploded in the 1980s. “That’s what will happen to PG cases in the next 5–10 years,” he affirms.