Anesthesia
Trends in clinician burnout during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study led by researchers from Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis, Minnesota, finds that clinician burnout and intent to leave increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but rose sharply in late 2021. In this survey study of 20,627 US clinicians (physicians, residents, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) in 120 large healthcare…
Healthcare employment up in November
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in November to a seasonally adjusted 16,623,800 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on December 2. That’s up 44,700 since October. Hospital employment also was up by 11,000 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for November was 3.7%, for a…
Editorial
After writing my latest article on surgical robots (Operationalizing a robotics program for evenings, weekends, pp 13–15, 19) for this issue of OR Manager, I reminisced on how the surgical robot has evolved and how my interest in surgical robots began. Reminiscing about robots It all began with the…
A success story: Coordination, teamwork, and collaboration in aerodigestive procedures
The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago has a mission: to successfully serve children with complex airway disorders requiring pulmonary, upper digestive tract, sleep, voice, and swallowing evaluations. As a 360-bed facility ranked among the country’s top children’s hospitals by US News & World Report and housing more than 1,800…
Operationalizing a robotics program for evenings, weekends
The St Elizabeth Healthcare organization in northern Kentucky has eight facilities, including two surgery centers. The flagship hospital on the Edgewood campus has 534 beds and 22 ORs and typically performs some 14,000 surgical procedures per year. Robots help manage the volume. The Edgewood, Florence, and Ft Thomas hospitals have…
Challenges and best practices with strategizing flip rooms
Consider the following requests posed to OR scheduling staff by surgeons: • “I need two blocks in different rooms to accommodate my daily case volume.” • “Can’t I just use that empty room to start my next case while the first case is wrapping up?” Surgeon requests like these are…
Negotiating contracts with anesthesia: Set clear expectations and hire who you know
David Shapiro, MD, who is a risk manager/medical director at several ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) near Tallahassee, Florida, has seen his fair share of contracts with anesthesia services. Navigating these types of contracts at a time when anesthesiology is suffering from a workforce shortage and high costs for services is…
Loneliness linked to postop mortality in Medicare patients
Editor's Note In this study of Medicare patients, researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, find that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of death at 30 days after nonelective surgery. Of 4,453 patients in the analysis, 623 (14%) had nonelective surgery. The mean loneliness score was 1.5. Unadjusted…
Partial COVID-19 vaccination tied to decreased postop mortality, infection
Editor's Note This study from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, finds that full and partial COVID-19 vaccination reduced postoperative complications. Researchers analyzed data from patients having surgery at 1,283 VA medical facilities nationwide. Of 87,073 surgical patients, 20% were fully vaccinated, 15% were partially vaccinated, and 65% were unvaccinated. Among…
FDA: Class I recall of Teleflex Iso-Gard Filter S
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 1 identified the recall of Teleflex’s Iso-Gard Filter S as Class I, the most serious. Iso-Gard filters are breathing circuit bacterial filters that are connected to respiratory equipment or breathing systems in operating rooms and ICUs. The recall was initiated…
Free Daily News
- Q1 reports show climb in outpatient surgical volume, diverging trends at Surgery Partners, Ardent Health
- Study: SGLT2 inhibitors raise postop euglycemic ketoacidosis risk but lower mortality
- FDA launches effort to identify, slash outdated healthcare regulations under 10-to-1 rule
- The Joint Commission, NFQ announce 2024 Eisenberg Award recipients
- Low-income patients billed despite hospital tax breaks
- Report: Global nurse shortage widens inequities, fuels migration risks
- Study: Machine learning quadruples delirium detection in hospitalized older adults
- Ice machines spread Legionella in hospital oncology unit, prompting testing overhaul
- FDA fast-tracks generative AI rollout amid growing safety concerns
- Surveyed nurses report widespread burnout, urge system-wide reform