A safer, faster way for postoperative x-rays
With patient safety as its primary goal, the University of Michigan Health System has created a new process using bar-coded sponges and electronic radiology orders to ensure no items are unintentionally left in a patient during surgery. Electronic orders provide for a standardized process that not only is safer but…
Tackling perioperative supply chain as a system
A systemwide focus on supply chain management is helping Sutter Health, a large, Sacramento, California-based health system, to improve its financial performance by adopting best practices and taking a contemporary approach to strategic sourcing, value analysis, and logistical support. The target: Trim $200 million from expenses by 2012, and they’re…
New consensus statement for cardiac cath labs
For the first time, cardiac catheterization laboratory personnel have a document defining best practices, including time-outs, infection prevention, and preprocedure checklists. The statement, from The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), issued in March 2012, is the first to represent consensus on the operation of cath labs, the lead…
Medicare rules allow broader use of nonphysicians
Hospitals now have the flexibility under federal law to include practitioners other than physicians on their medical staffs. That’s one provision of Medicare’s revised Conditions of Participation (COP) for hospitals and critical access hospitals, which take effect July 16, 2012. The revision is the first major overhaul of the COPs…
CMS expert offers advice on ASC quality reporting
With the early issuance of quality reporting codes for Medicare, both ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have a chance to develop expertise in their use and to resolve any technical problems before the mandatory start date of October 1, 2012. And that…
Overcoming low health literacy: Helping your patient understand
Imagine sitting through a discussion with a surgeon or nurse and not understanding a single word—or worse, misinterpreting key information. Unfortunately, that’s the situation for many patients and their families because millions of people in the US have insufficient health literacy skills. A review in the American Journal of Surgery…
Curbing OR traffic: Finding ways to minimize the flow of personnel
A traffic cop? Stop signs? Flashing lights? Is there a way to curb the number of people passing in and out of ORs during cases? The number during a lengthy major surgery can reach a dozen or more, with door openings every minute or two. Door openings affect the OR’s…
Free Daily News
- Five orthopods establish Hand, Wrist & Elbow Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush
- Allegheny Valley Hospital opens expanded inpatient rehabilitation unit
- TV station reports instrument concerns at St. Louis hospital
- Medical assistant’s personal experience helps anxious heart failure patients process their situations
- Georgia surgeon arrested for assaulting recovering patient at hospital
- ACS highlights three aspects of CMS’ 2026 coding and reimbursement changes
- Workers describe ‘disruptive’ ICE presence inside Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center
- ASA study says changes needed for pain management of surgical patients on MOUD treatments
- A closer look at how AI is changing surgery
- New study links higher postoperative mortality to income level
Career Center
- Cardiothoracic Surgeon Stanford Medicine - San Jose - Stanford University, School of Medicine - San Jose, CA
- Colorectal Surgeon - AMN Healthcare - Norfolk, VA
- Orthopedic Hand Surgeon (Hand and Elbow) | Thriving New Practice| No General Orthopedic Trauma Call | OR Block Time - Baptist Health - Fleming Island, FL
- Breast Surgeon - Baptist Health - Jacksonville, FL