Device firms face tax, transparency
Two provisions of the health care reform law passed in March 2010 affect medical device companies. A 2.3% tax on companies' gross sales from medical devices starting in 2013 will help pay for reform. In addition, drug and device companies will have to publicly report gifts and payments made to…
Is event-related dating going away?
Because of recent regulatory activity, some are asking whether event-related sterility dating is going away. The answer is no. The confusion is a result of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking Kimberly-Clark (KC) to submit a new 510k application to confirm that its sterilization wrap meets all current requirements.…
Stay ahead of reimbursement changes
Ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) are generally set up to serve the needs of their patient communities while maximizing revenue for their physician, investor, or hospital owners. Take away those incentives, and it is reasonable for an ASC manager to ask, "What are we doing here?" Yet with falling reimbursement rates…
AORN RPs generate lively discussion
Proposed revisions to AORN recommended practices (RPs) on surgical attire and prevention of unplanned retained items (formerly counts) generated lively discussion at the AORN Congress in March in Denver—as they are likely to do in ORs across the country. The proposals were open for public comment on the AORN website,…
Keynote: What would Florence do?
When did the health care crisis get to be a crisis? Was it last year with the capital crunch and reimbursement cutbacks? Was it the evolution of managed care and corporate medicine? Does it go back to when Medicare was established? What would Florence Nightingale say about the health care…
Total joints: Toward zero infections
The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City has one of the highest volumes of total joint replacements in the world. It also has one of the lowest surgical site infection (SSI) rates. The hospital, which performs about 8,000 joint replacements a year, was recently commended by the…
What is the OR’s role in SSI surveillance?
Under the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal 07.05.01 on preventing surgical site infections (SSIs), organizations are required to measure their SSI rates. They also need to provide process and outcome measures, such as SSI rates, to key stakeholders; for example, surgeons and senior administrators. Perioperative nurses play an important…
Will skin-prep practice change following new study results?
Strong evidence from a new 6-hospital study could lead many ORs to change their traditional practice for surgical skin preparation. In the first prospective, randomized study to compare the effect of 2 skin prep agents on the incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs) after clean-contaminated surgery, a chlorhexidine (CHG)-alcohol product…
Free Daily News
- Sutter Health to open first Modesto ASC as part of larger outpatient complex
- Ascension CEO speaks about AmSurg acquisition
- TriasMD opens seventh ASC
- 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
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