Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Leading Pediatric Orthopedics at Scottish Rite for Children with Dr. Daniel Sucato

Transcript

Leading Pediatric Orthopedics at Scottish Rite for Children with Dr. Daniel Sucato · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
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  Podcast.
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  We're thrilled today to be joined by a
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  brilliant leader. We're joined today by doctor Daniel
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  Sacato,
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  and and doctor Sacato's at
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  Scottish Rite Hospital Children's Hospital in Dallas. He's
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  gonna talk to us about some of the
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  innovations, some of the things you're doing about
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  his career, and a lot more. Doctor Sacato,
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  could you take a second to introduce yourself
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  and tell us about Scottish Rite Hospital?
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  Yeah. Thanks, Scott. It's a pleasure to be
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  here. My name is Dan Cicado. As you
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  said, I'm the chief of staff here at
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  Scottish Rite for Children in Dallas,
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  which is a pediatric orthopedic
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  institution with other sort of ancillary services. It's
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  not a full service hospital. We really stay
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  laser focused on children and adolescents who have
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  orthopedic,
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  conditions and and challenges.
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  We've been around for over a hundred years.
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  We've been here in Dallas, and and we
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  also have a campus that's, 22 miles north
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  of us in the Frisco, which, Frisco suburb,
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  which is one of the fastest growing,
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  towns in the country. So we're very happy
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  to serve our community,
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  not only locally, but regionally and and to
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  a certain extent nationally because of our expertise
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  in what we do.
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  No. And and thank you so much for
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  joining us today and telling us a little
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  bit more about Scottish Rite. And Scottish Rite's
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  got this brilliant reputation,
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  but in some ways, it's one of the
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  best kept secrets in America. So it's a
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  fantastic orthopedic children's hospital.
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  Tell us a little bit about the history
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  and about how you ended up there.
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  Give us a more full feeling of Scottish
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  Rite. We're so thrilled to have you on,
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  and I do feel like it's one of
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  the best kept secrets in America. Tell us
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  more. Yeah. Thanks. So, yeah, we are a
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  small hospital that's been, like I said before,
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  over a hundred years. We started,
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  with the first pediatric or the first orthopedic
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  surgeon in Dallas was a guy named WB
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  Carroll
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  who was seeing patients and, on Saturdays, we're
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  seeing children and with manifestations really of polio,
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  orthopedic manifestations of polio.
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  And he got so busy that he said,
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  listen. We need to start a hospital. And
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  so in over a hundred years ago in,
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  1921,
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  he formed Scottish Rite,
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  Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
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  And, it's evolved over the years to,
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  one of the busiest
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  pediatric,
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  practices in the country. We're an academic institution
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  that has strong affiliations with our partners,
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  University of Texas Southwestern down the street as
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  well as children's health.
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  We have 20 orthopedic surgeons. We have the
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  biggest fellowship in the country in pediatric orthopedics,
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  and we attract, folks from all over the
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  country, not only to train, but also patients.
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  And we're probably to your point, we're probably
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  known as well nationally and internationally as we
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  are sort of locally and regionally because of
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  our academic
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  success on trying to, really research and discover
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  the, you know, the best thing to take
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  care of patients,
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  not only now but into the future.
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  And, you know, up until about fifteen years
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  ago, we didn't charge patients,
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  to come to Scottish Rite as completely charity.
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  But over the last fifteen years, we've had
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  a little bit of a revenue cycle.
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  But we still will take any child that
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  has a orthopedic condition,
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  irregardless of their ability to pay. And that's
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  been one of our main,
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  real selling points through the years in addition
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  to the expert care that we can provide.
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  And and take a second. I'll ask you
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  one question, and and this is a hard
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  question. So let me know if you're ready
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  for a difficult question.
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  Absolutely.
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  So so here's the question, doctor Ciccato.
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  Know, you've been in Buffalo. You've been in
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  Dallas.
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  More of a Bills fan or a Cowboys
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  fan?
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  Well, you know, it's an interesting question. You
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  know, I lived through the four Super Bowls
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  in Buffalo when I was there. So as
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  you said, I grew up in Buffalo. I'm
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  very proud to be a Buffalonian.
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  I've been down here in Dallas twenty eight
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  years. Did all my training at a great
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  program up in Buffalo, and then came down
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  here for my last year of training, which
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  was my fellowship. And as I mentioned earlier,
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  we think we have the best fellowship in
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  pediatrics.
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  And so I came down here, and I
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  was gonna go back up and take everything
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  I learned from Scottish Rite,
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  up back up to the Northeast somewhere, and
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  they asked me to stay, and I've been
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  here ever since. So to answer your question,
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  I'm still a diehard Bill fan. My wallpaper
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  on my phone is me and my family
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  at, the Cowboys game against the Bills on
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  Thanksgiving Day about seven, eight years ago where
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  we won.
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  I do root for the Cowboys, though, when
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  the Bills aren't playing. And so on Thanksgiving
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  Day, I'll always root for the Cowboys, especially
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  this year since they're playing the Chiefs, who
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  is, as you know, our arch enemy in
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  the AFC. So
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  A 100%. So so still part of the
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  Buffalo Bills mafia. Absolutely. But a Cowboys fan
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  as well. And and one of the great
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  pieces of TV
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  over the last couple years is the special
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  on the,
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  on the Cowboys, the Jerry Jones special, the
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  documentary, which is fantastic TV, a different subject,
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  and I'm off base again for a moment.
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  But, yes, if you're a Bills fan, watching
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  them lose four Super Bowls was brutal,
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  but some of the best teams ever and
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  and fantastic
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  fantastic stuff. Love it.
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  Tell us what trends you're watching in orthopedic
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  surgery and taking care of children.
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  What are some of the big trends you're
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  watching? And then also, what are you most
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  focused on and excited about this coming year?
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  Yeah.
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  So, you know, I think for Scottish Rite,
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  it's been incredibly successful year. Research is really
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  one of the mainstays that we do in
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  addition to taking great care of kids and
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  children.
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  And so this year, this past year, for
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  our big meeting, so the scoliosis research society,
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  the pediatric orthopedic society of North America, the
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  pediatric research in sports medicine,
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  those three big meetings, we have won the
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  best,
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  research award for each of those meetings. So
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  we're very excited about looking into what is
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  the future and and and discovery.
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  We're also ranked number one in pediatric orthopedics
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  in the country this year by US News
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  and World Report. So those are so those
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  are sort of the byproducts of what we
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  do each and every day. And we are
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  looking into the future. I think, obviously, AI
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  is a big thing. And and, we're applying
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  that both on the clinical side as well
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  as on the research side and the clinical
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  side. You know, the patient interaction
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  is really about the the care team with
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  the patient and the family
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  and keeping the computer and the electronic medical
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  records sort of out of that interaction. And
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  so I think with AI, we've begun to
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  really
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  utilize that so that the medical record note
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  is really almost created,
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  entirely by the interaction that the AI is
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  witnessing or hearing.
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  And so we put that into place here
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  at Scratch. Right? On the research front, AI
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  is also
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  very important to us, and so we're developing
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  ways to
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  identify using big data
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  trends that are happening, really trying to use
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  predictive analytics to say which patients are at
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  highest risk
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  for having, some challenges,
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  intraoperatively
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  and postoperatively.
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  We're also using it in a diagnostic way,
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  to read radiographs and really make that process
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  a little bit more streamlined.
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  And, you know, the big thing in kids
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  and children today is sort of the genetic
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  aspect of it. And so we've always been
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  at the forefront of molecular genetics. We were
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  the first institution to identify a gene for
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  adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. We continue to pursue,
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  genetic research, through many of our researchers. We
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  have three
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  current r o one grants in pediatric orthopedics
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  here at Scottish Rite.
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  And so I think genetics is playing a
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  big role, not only in, research and discovery,
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  but also in treatment. And there's a lot
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  of genetic based, treatment for some of the
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  conditions that we take care of, like spinal
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  muscular atrophy, where children are really living,
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  a more fruitful and, and, energetic life with
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  greater strength. And,
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  and we treat a lot of those patients
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  with, who have scoliosis
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  because of that condition. And and, and so
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  that's been really,
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  an interesting,
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  sort of evolution of how genetics has helped
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  patients and and also orthopedics.
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  Fantastic. And and when you look at this
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  next coming year,
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  what are you most focused on and excited
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  about this coming year?
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  Well, I think we're gonna continue to do
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  what we we've always done, which is, stay
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  laser focused on kids and children. I think,
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  as the population around us here in Dallas
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  Fort Worth area continues to increase,
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  we continue to look for, ways to get
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  more patients in the doors at Scottish Rite.
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  And so access
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  is really an important thing that, that we're
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  looking for.
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  We're also looking to to continue to expand
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  our research. You know, we do a lot
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  of great clinical research, and our basic research
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  is strong, but we're gonna continue to pursue,
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  even more, on the basic and translational,
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  research side of things as as well as
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  continue our clinical
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  research activities.
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  Thank you. And what about shortages in pediatric
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  specialties?
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  What does that look like today in terms
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  of shortages, and and and and and how
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  is that going in pediatrics?
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  Well, we don't really see much of that
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  in our institution.
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  I think in pediatrics and in the primary
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  care fields, there there are some,
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  shortages with respect to,
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  those sort of,
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  primary care
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  aspects. There's also some we do see a
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  little bit of it. We have a very
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  strong pediatric rheumatology
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  team
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  and, as well as a developmental pediatrics team.
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  And those,
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  subspecialties,
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  are hard to come by. And so,
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  you know, they they continue to train more
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  and more,
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  to try to kinda fill the need, but
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  those are some of the concerns and some
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  of the things that we're watching for to
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  make sure that we continue to fill out
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  our team,
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  to take care of those patients who have
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  those,
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  those needs, that are part of the orthopedic
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  care.
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  Thank you. And and and in terms of
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  anesthesia
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  shortages there or managing that, how does that
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  look?
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  You know, we really haven't seen much of
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  a challenge,
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  you know, from from,
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  hiring,
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  here at our institution. I think some of
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  that is the the fact that this is,
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  one of the,
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  most
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  attractive places to to be employed and to
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  work,
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  because of our mission and the vision of
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  of what we do each and every day.
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  So we really haven't seen much of a
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  challenge with respect
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  to anesthesia. I certainly know that, more nationally,
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  there are some, challenges, but we've not really
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  seen that here in Dallas.
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  Thank you very, very much. And, doctor Freeman,
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  you've had this remarkable leadership career and remarkable
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  career.
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  Any advice that you would give to emerging
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  leaders?
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  Yeah. I think leaders so I've been here
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  at Scottish Rite twenty eight years, and I've
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  evolved,
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  from, you know, a orthopedic surgeon just taking
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  good care of patients and doing research to,
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  you know, taking over the leadership,
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  fourteen years ago of, Scottish Rite and the
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  medical team. And, you know, I've had great
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  mentors. You know? The person
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  before me, was Tony Herring, who's had a
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  storied career here for thirty years
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  and,
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  as a leader and has been here and
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  continues to be here and serving,
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  as an educational and research role. And so,
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  you know, leadership is about really,
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  several things. Number one, I think, is leading
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  by example. I mean, you think each and
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  every day being a leader,
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  means doing the right thing,
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  almost at all costs and really making sure
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  that you lead by example. Number two is
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  as a leader, nobody works for you. You
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  work for them. And if you keep that
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  in mind, I think it's really something that
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  will serve you well as a leader
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  and recognizing that, you know, you're supposed to
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  be a servant leader to those who, work
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  with you. And so that's really important. Third
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  is really trying to,
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  make sure that everybody understands
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  the the vision and the mission, the why
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  of the institution.
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  And if, getting those people on board, to
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  understand the whys is, critically important. And then
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  I think the fourth thing is really you
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  gotta hire top talent, and you gotta hire
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  talent that have both the soft skills as
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  well as the hard skills that, make institutions
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  be successful, not only accomplishing
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  really great things in medicine,
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  but also building a culture that really is
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  sustainable,
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  for years to come. And building on that
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  culture every day is something that that we
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  all have to do as leaders, but also
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  as as folks,
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  you know, in each of our institutions.
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  Take one moment on the concept
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  that as a leader,
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  it's really a very mutual or reciprocal relationship.
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  People that work for you technically on an
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  org chart don't really work for you. You
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  better work for them too if you're gonna
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  make it work in the long run. Can
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  you talk about that for a moment?
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  Yeah. I think it's probably the most important
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  thing, and I think there's a, what you
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  really have to get to is a,
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  mutual trust,
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  that they trust you, that you're looking out
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  for them and the institution.
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  And that doesn't happen overnight. That happens
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  day in and day out, and you try
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  to build on that, and it's not always
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  a smooth process. I mean, I think there's
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  a lot of leadership courses out there and
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  a lot of leadership books.
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  And none of this is easy. It's sometimes
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  a lonely world. Sometimes it's a bumpy road.
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  Oftentimes, it's a bumpy road. But as long
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  as you're doing what you think is right
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  for the institution, not necessarily what's right for
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  me or what's right necessarily for an individual,
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  but what's right for the institution,
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  I think, then then that trust gets built
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  over time.
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  And,
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  and, you know, it's really tested in the
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  toughest of times when things are challenging and
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  when, you know, stuff really gets difficult. I
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  think that's the time where you really have
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  to sort of stay laser focused on what's
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  really important to the institution and and for
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  the success of, those around you, which is
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  really critically important as a leader.
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  Thank you so much. Doctor Cicada, what a
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  pleasure to visit with you. I'll I'll ask
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  you
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  one more question.
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  Josh Allen versus Dak Prescott,
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  and and and can the Bills make a
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  run this year, or is this gonna be
• 14:09
  a challenging year?
• 14:10
  Yeah. The Bills,
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  it's a tough one. Josh Allen is, you
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  know, obviously,
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  he won the MVP last year, and he's
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  he's really good. I think their defense is,
• 14:21
  is hurting a little bit.
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  I wish they had a really great number
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  one wide receiver.
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  So they're missing a few little elements, but,
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  you know, Buffalo's a tough tough town, and
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  it's a it's a really great gritty team.
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  And, you know, I hope, they make a
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  run for it. They've had a little bumpy
• 14:39
  road here recently, but we'll see what happens.
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  You know, the cowboys pulled out a tough
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  one against the eagles the other day, but
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  they got a big one up against Thursday,
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  against the, Chiefs. So so we'll see what
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  happens. It it'll be fun it'll be fun
• 14:49
  to watch no matter what happens.
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  But I think we could all agree that
• 14:53
  we're sick of the Chiefs winning and and
• 14:56
  hoping that they don't make it go deep.
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  There's no question we can agree if, you
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  know, they're you know, I respect them immensely,
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  but I am glad that they are not
• 15:05
  doing that well this year.
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  We are all on the same page, and
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  we're sad to see them pull it out
• 15:10
  the other day, but it is what it
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  is. Yes, sir. Anyways, doctor Scott. And what
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  a pleasure to visit with you and also
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  for me and our audience to learn more
• 15:17
  about Scottish Rite. What an amazing institution. Thank
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  you for joining us on the Beckers HealthCare
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  podcast. Thanks, Scott. It's great to be here.
• 15:24
  I appreciate the the opportunity.