UCSF’s First Medical Director of Robotic Surgery on Improving Patient Outcomes and Enabling Innovation

Thoracic surgeon Johannes Kratz, MD, has been selected as UCSF’s first medical director of robotic surgery. He served as co-director of UCSF Health’s robotic executive committee from 2018 to 2022, becoming its sole director in 2022. Under his stewardship, the program has grown year over year, with UCSF surgeons performing robotically assisted thoracic, gastrointestinal, colorectal, urologic, gynecologic, cardiac, otolaryngological, head and neck, and bariatric surgeries. In this interview, Kratz discusses tracking volumes and outcomes, adding new service lines, developing credentialing processes and enabling innovation at UCSF.