Float teams have been a staple of nurse-staffing plans for many years, but they have not been widely used in the operating room. Utah Valley Hospital, a Level II trauma center in Provo, Utah, and part of the Intermountain Healthcare system, has been developing float teams for nearly 2 decades.…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Pittsburgh finds that telemedicine can be used safely and effectively for bariatric surgical patients’ preoperative care. A total of 1,182 patients (telemedicine visit group, 257 vs in-person visit controls, 925) were included in the analysis. The telemedicine group was found to be…

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Editor's Note Asensus Surgical and Google Cloud are collaborating to integrate Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and cloud data into Asensus’ surgical robot platform, the February 14 Mass Device reports. Applying AI capabilities to clinical performance data will enhance accuracy and efficiency as well as help surgeons avoid complications and…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that network facilities had higher negotiated prices for surgical procedures, and there is wide variability across facilities in and out of hospital networks. A total of 3,195 hospitals were included in the analysis. Among the findings: For 15…

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Editor's Note In order for perioperative services to operate smoothly, it is crucial to manage surgical preference cards efficiently, Megan Eubanks, MBA, Senior Director of Business Operations, Perioperative and Procedural Services, The University of Kansas Hospital, discussed in a session, “Getting Your Surgical Preference Cards Right.” She shared with the…

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Editor's Note Sherry Rogers, Director of Robotics at Emory Healthcare, shared the key tactics to building and sustaining a high performing robotics program in a 2-part workshop at the OR Business Management Conference. In the session, Rogers offered a breakdown of several components of her successful program, including the training…

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Noreen Hudson, MSN, RN, Associate Director, Berkeley Research Group and Bill Orrell, MBA, MSN, RN, Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group concluded the OR Business Management Conference in a session, "Weathering the Storm - Moving Your Health System Forward in 2023 and Beyond." Their presentation focused on “putting it all together”…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, finds that underrepresentation of minorities persists across all surgical specialties, while representation of females improves. The cross-sectional study examined race, ethnicity and attrition data of 112,205 surgical residents across 18 years (2001-2018) in 10 surgical specialties.…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, and Edward Hines Jr Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Illinois, finds that core general surgery cases performed by senior-level residents can be done safely without the attending surgeons scrubbed in. Of 109,707 patients analyzed, 11,181 had procedures…

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Editor's note Researchers at Australia-based RMIT University have developed a new antimicrobial suture material that can reduce infections and simplify postoperative monitoring. Laboratory testing on the surgical suture finds it is easily visible in CT scans and that it has strong antimicrobial properties, killing 99% of highly drug-resistant bacteria after…

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