Video Transcript:
Stephanie Kralevich: Dr. James Ballard here at Regenerative Orthopedic Center or ROC in Tualatin is recognized internationally and nationally for his expertise in joint replacement surgery. Dr. Ballard, on my way in today, I met a married couple, both of whom were your patients. One had a knee replacement surgery and the wife had a hip replacement surgery, and they were both so happy with their results. What’s that feel like for you as a physician?
Dr. James Ballard: Helping people, getting them out of pain is just super satisfying. Hip and knee arthritis are incredibly debilitating to people, and to be able to do an operation that’s relatively short and change somebody’s life is just wonderful to do that.
Stephanie Kralevich: But that’s not all you’re doing, right? You’re a surgeon, but a lot of times you advise your patients to not get surgery.
Dr. James Ballard: Even though I’m a surgeon, my job is to treat you without surgery. And then if we run out of things to do that aren’t helping you, then we go to an operation. I think one of the things that we do really well is prioritizing the patient and what they need and trying to make surgery be just part of that treatment offering.
Stephanie Kralevich: I learned a fun fact about you, and that’s that you’re kind of a pioneer in outpatient joint replacement surgery.
Dr. James Ballard: Yeah, in the Western United States, for sure. In the United States, there were people that came before me, obviously, but we started doing surgery from the hospital, gosh, in 2011, and nobody at the time was doing that. It was totally unheard of out here, and now it’s commonplace. So yeah, that’s been one of the most gratifying things about my career has been helping move this procedure to surgery centers.
Stephanie Kralevich: You are recognized for your expertise nationally and internationally, meaning you travel all over the world to speak on joint replacement surgery. What are the advancements in joint replacement surgery that you’re speaking about?
Dr. James Ballard: Robotics for hip and knee replacement, recovery protocols. Knee replacement is an interesting field because the philosophy is changing a lot in the last five or six years. So those changing philosophies, the impact they have on patients has been changing, so we talk a lot about that.
Stephanie Kralevich: To learn more about orthopedic care and recovery at Regenerative Orthopedic Center, visit rocpdx.com.