Last month, Boston Hernia’s Dr. Reinhorn spoke about Patient Centered Care at the 2025 Work Related Injuries Workshop. In hernia surgery, patient centered care comes down to a holistic care model, which means (1) treating the whole patient vs the disease, (2) using evidence-based surgical practices and (3) seamlessly integrating the principals of strength and conditioning with every treatment plan. When it comes to injured workers, this holistic approach is especially crucial for preventing reinjury, minimizing time missed, and maintaining the ability to engage with our families and activities outside of work.
Early on in our practice, Boston Hernia joined the ACHQC (Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative), an organization made up of hundreds of surgeons committed to quality improvement through data analysis. With a focus on minimizing opioid prescriptions, recurrence rates and chronic pain, our participation has allowed us to provide better patient centered care.
One of the more recent actions we took to solidify our commitment to holistic abdominal core health was building a small strength training space in our clinic, where strength and conditioning coach Josh Zall of Zall Training Systems works with patients one on one as needed.
Patient centered care may look different across specialties, but the same basic principles can be applied in all settings. A win for the patient means a win for providers, employers, and all other stakeholders involved in healthcare.