In a new alert, the Joint Commission adds its voice to calls to curb fatigue from extended work days and work hours. The alert highlights evidence linking fatigue to adverse events and outlines actions organizations can take to mitigate fatigue, especially among nurses and physicians. The commission says the alert…

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Hospitals have aggressive cost reduction goals coupled with more quality incentives. “In the past, we would hear of goals in the millions of dollars,” says Lani Berman, MPH, MBA, senior vice president, performance services for VHA Inc. Today, she says goals are often in the hundreds of millions, especially for…

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An agreement with orthopedic and spine surgeons to share savings has enabled a large medical center to make major strides on its implant costs. It’s also provided eye-opening opportunities to improve patient care. Under the agreement, termed gainsharing, a hospital and physicians enter into a formal contract to share savings…

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Negotiating with orthopedic vendors can be frustrating as OR leaders strive to balance competing agendas among companies, surgeons, and the hospital. Kimberley Murray, MS, RN, CNOR, administrator for the orthopedic and spine service line at St. Joseph’s Hospital (SJH) in Syracuse, New York, reduced frustration by adopting a program that…

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A 4-year study shows patient outcomes didn’t change significantly when hospitals and physicians joined in a pay-for-performance (P4P) program for 8 types of surgery. The researchers say this is one of the first studies of P4P to look at patient outcomes. The project used a gainsharing model in which 3…

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With hospitals under ever greater economic pressure, perioperative managers are expected to hew closely to staffing productivity targets, meaning they must match staffing as closely as possible to the hours of surgery actually performed. They’re also expected to grow surgical volume. Hospitals’ revenue depends on it. To grow volume, ORs…

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Is your OR’s clinical documentation as specific as it needs to be? That’s the key question perioperative directors and managers need to ask as their organizations gear up for ICD-10. The big date is October 1, 2013. Starting then, all claims have to be submitted using the ICD-10 coding sets.…

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When Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in Spokane, Washington, decided to tackle waste and inefficiencies in its 4,400 square-foot-case cart and sterile supply room, leaders set modest goals for improvement: increase case picking productivity by 4% and relocate enough items to create 6 carts of space for…

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For a variety of reasons, survey inspectors this year are looking more closely at ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and other outpatient facilities for evidence of compliance with sharps-safety guidelines. Bloodborne pathogens, of course, have been a concern since awareness of HIV and hepatitis C emerged. Physicians and nurses have long…

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