Beginning January 1, 2017, the Joint Commission is “making significant changes in its survey methods and its standards manual,” says John R. Rosing, MHA, FACHE, executive vice president and principal, Patton Healthcare Consulting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and OR managers need to be prepared for them. The reason, he says, is that…

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High staff engagement contributes to the success of an organization, but OR managers are finding it tough to engage their staffs, given the multitude of changes in healthcare and stressors in the OR. In the final article of this three-part series, OR Manager examines the challenge of staff engagement, along…

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This issue of OR Manager will be published around Thanksgiving, and we hope it won’t be overlooked in the wake of holiday preparations. Important information such as the upcoming Joint Commission survey changes, for example, should not be missed (cover story). Surveys were discussed during the 2016 OR Manager Conference.…

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Comprehensive surgical patient care models are associated with better outcomes, according to studies presented at Anesthesiology 2016 in October. In a study of 1,356 patients undergoing total knee, hip, or shoulder joint replacement surgery, pain management and communication between patients and physicians improved when care was based on the perioperative…

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Even when recommended cleaning and disinfection protocols are followed, residual contamination of instruments is possible, researchers have found (OR Manager, November 2016, 1, 10-11). Visual inspection can catch some signs of contamination, but it won’t reveal problems within channels and other areas of complex medical devices. That’s why it’s important…

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Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) quality scores became public for the first time in 2016. ASCs and regulators including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) say they are pleased to have documentation of their track records. But what do the scores really mean, and how useful, exactly, are they…

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Standing out from the competition in any industry requires the use of effective marketing tactics. In the case of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), these tactics can be divided into physician referral, recruitment, and retention; online; and internal and external marketing. Here is a closer look at each of these. (For…

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