The role of the OR in ERAS pathway implementation
The US has been on a journey for the last several years to reduce the cost of healthcare. In 2017, the percent of gross domestic product attributed to healthcare goods and services was at 17.9%. This is expected to reach as much as 19.4% by the year 2027.1 Factors contributing…
Proactive steps paramount for greater surgical stapler safety
Internal surgical staplers made headline news in 2019. Reports discussed the little-known US Food and Drug Administration database housing tens of thousands of stapler-related problem reports and covered the agency’s recent proposal to reclassify staplers as Class II devices, instead of the more lightly regulated Class I. ECRI Institute named…
Decreased postop opioid prescribing not linked to patient’s satisfaction with surgeon
Editor's Note This study found that opioid prescribing can be decreased by more than 50% and not adversely affect patients’ satisfaction scores with their surgeons. Of 996 patients surveyed on their satisfaction with their surgeons before (period A) and after (period B) an educational intervention that resulted in decreased opioid…
Association between heart failure and postop mortality in ambulatory surgery patients
Editor's Note In this study, heart failure with or without symptoms was associated with an increased risk of postoperative mortality at 90-days and complications at 30-days in ambulatory surgery patients. In this analysis of 355,121 patients having noncardiac ambulatory surgical procedures, 90-day mortality was 2% in patients with heart failure…
Identifying postop complications using EHR data and machine learning
Editor's Note Using machine learning on electronic health record (EHR) postoperative data linked to the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) outcomes data, researchers developed a model with 163 predictors of postoperative complications at the University of Colorado Hospital. Of 6,840 patients analyzed with the…
Joint Commission reviewing CMS final rules on discharge planning, burden reduction
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on October 9 that it is reviewing discharge planning and burden reduction changes announced in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rules published September 30. Any changes to Joint Commission accreditation requirements for deemed programs will go through the CMS iterative…
PCI vs CABG outcomes for left main coronary disease
Editor's Note In this study of patients with left main coronary disease, there was no significant difference in outcomes at 5 years between treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Researchers randomly assigned 1,905 patients with left main coronary artery disease of low or intermediate…
Will the success of AI in healthcare depend on nurses?
Editor's Note Nurses have always played an important role when new health information technology (IT) has been implemented, and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and the changes it can bring to healthcare will be no exception, reports the September 27 HealthcareITNews. Though some nurses may view AI as another…
Association between social risk factors and SSIs after colectomy, abdominal hysterectomy
Editor's Note Social risk factors were inconsistently associated with surgical site infection (SSI) rates after colectomy or abdominal hysterectomy in this study. In this analysis of 149,741 patients, Medicaid status (a marker for poverty) and living in a low-income zip code were linked to higher SSI rates after colectomy. For…
Total hip arthroplasty vs hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture
Editor's Note In this study of patients with displaced femoral neck fractures, the incidence of secondary procedures did not differ significantly between patients who had total hip arthroplasty (THA) and those who had hemiarthroplasty. THA was associated with modestly better function over 2 years but with a slightly higher incidence…
