PPSA develops practices to prevent wrong-site surgery events
Editor's Note Nearly one-quarter of more than 600 wrong-site surgery events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PPSA) since 2004 have involved wrong-site anesthesia blocks. Based on these findings, PPSA has developed evidence-based practices for preventing wrong-site surgery and wrong-site anesthesia blocks that complement the Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol.…
Joint Commission: New, updated resources for preventing surgical fires
Editor's Note The Joint Commission has partnered with the Food & Drug Administration, Council for Surgical & Perioperative Safety, and others in the Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative, which has released new, updated resources for preventing surgical fires. These include: A presentation on “Preventing Surgical Fires and Burns in Healthcare Facilities”…
Quality of supervision provided by anesthesiologists not linked to clinical productivity
Editor's Note When anesthesiologists supervise anesthesia residents and nurse anesthetists, the amount of clinical work (total weekly hours) they perform does not positively correlate with the quality of the supervision they provide, this study finds. The results suggest that anesthesiology department managers should be monitoring (and perhaps reporting) the quality…
Class I recall of Beacon Tip angiographic catheters by Cook Medical
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on August 7 labeled the recall of Beacon Tip angiographic catheters by Cook Medical as Class I, the most serious. The catheter tip may split or separate from the catheter and enter the patient’s bloodstream. Cook Medical has received 26 reports of the…
Preop questionnaire identifies children at risk for sleep-disordered breathing
Editor's Note Implementation of a pediatric screening questionnaire (Snoring, Trouble Breathing, Un-Refreshed [STBUR]) helped anesthesia professionals identify children with symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing before undergoing general anesthesia, in this study. The likelihood of developing a perioperative respiratory adverse event increased three-fold when three of the five questions were answered yes…
Variation in surgical readmissions mostly patient related
Editor's Note Postoperative readmissions occurred in more than 1 in 10 patients, in this study, with considerable variation across specialties. The majority of variation was attributable to patient-related factors (82.8%); surgical specialty accounted for 14.5% of the variability, and individual surgeon factors accounted for 2.8%. After adjusting for patient and…
Effect of professional guidelines on preop testing
Editor's Note The release of 2002 guidelines on preoperative testing by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, American College of Cardiology, and American Heart Association was associated with a reduction in routine ECG testing but not of x-rays, hematocrit, urinalysis, or cardiac stress testing, in this study. Because routine preoperative testing…
FDA labels recall of Medtronic’s heart valve loading system Class I
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on August 5 categorized the recall of 6,912 units of Medtronic Cardiovascular Surgery’s EnVeo R loading system as Class I, the most serious. The loading system is used with the CoreValve Evolut R replacement heart valve. The recall was issued over concerns about…
US Senate passes Electronic Health Fairness Act
Editor's Note The US Senate on August 5 passed the Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2015 (S 1347), which was heavily promoted by the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. The legislation protects physicians practicing in ASCs from Medicare meaningful use penalties until a certified electronic health record technology is available for…
Joint Commission updates ASC accreditation survey guide
Editor's Note The Joint Commission has updated its “Ambulatory Care Accreditation Survey Activity Guide for Health Care Organizations,” and has made it available on the Joint Commission Connect extranet site. Among the updates: Survey document list: A new item has been added requesting identification of all locations where high-level disinfection…
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- Surgical robotics market accelerates as new players challenge industry giants
- Robotic surgery boosts 3-year relapse-free survival in rectal cancer
- Low-cost simulation helps surgical trainees practice crisis skills for major hemorrhage
- Nurse leaders weigh in on NCLEX pass rate decline, impact on workforce readiness
- FDA issues early alerts on multiple high-risk device recalls from J&J, Medtronic, Baxter, Boston Scientific
- New UCSF measure shows 1 in 60 cesarean deliveries involve serious surgical complications
- Hospitals can curb costly post-acute discharges with targeted periop programs, study finds
- Sameness in nursing care puts patients at risk
- CMS’s plan to phase out inpatient-only list could bolster rural ASCs
- AAAHC unveils v44 standards to sharpen focus on patient-centered ambulatory care