Defining Metrics for Assessing Surgeon Performance During a Telementoring Program for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis...

Area of Science:

• Spine Surgery
• Surgical Education
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Telementoring offers remote guidance for surgeons, proving feasible and valuable, especially in underserved areas.
• Limited evidence exists on telementoring's effectiveness in enhancing surgeon performance.
• Objective assessment tools are needed to evaluate surgeon skills in scoliosis surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate metrics for assessing spine surgeon performance in scoliosis surgery.
• To establish a rubric for evaluating surgical steps and errors within a telementoring context.

Main Methods:

• A modified Delphi process involving ten expert spine surgeons over four rounds (online and in-person).
• Development of procedural steps and error categories for surgical assessment.
• Validation of the metrics by eleven surgeons rating video recordings using the established rubric.

Main Results:

• Unanimous approval of a final set of 50 procedural steps and 28 error categories by the expert panel.
• Consensus on using cameras, smart lenses, and intraoperative imaging for sufficient surgical visibility.
• Successful validation of the metrics through video-based assessment.

Conclusions:

• A validated set of assessment metrics for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery has been defined.
• The rubric is suitable for assessing surgeon performance in telementoring programs and other observational settings.
• Future research will utilize these metrics to evaluate the educational impact of telementoring.