Editor's Note Nearly half of Americans struggle to afford health care and prescription medications, according to the latest Healthcare Affordability Index from West Health and Gallup. Newsweek reported on the findings July 17. Based on polling of 5,149 adults, the index shows a decline in affordability by six points since…

Read More

Editor's Note As the Republican National Convention meets in Milwaukee to nominate Donald Trump, the party is not expected to unveil a detailed healthcare platform. However, a July 15 report in Modern Healthcare covers what plans and past records reveal about the potential direction of health policy under a GOP…

Read More

Editor's Note Federal regulation of hospital mergers is inadequate, according to an April antitrust enforcement study scheduled to be published by the American Economic Association. According to a June 14 report in Modern Healthcare, researchers at universities including Harvard and Yale analyzed insurance claims data from Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare,…

Read More

Editor's Note The median hospital margin of 3.8% for April is an improvement over the previous month and year-over-year, according to the latest National Hospital Flash Report from Kaufman Hall. Compiled by Kaufman and Syntellis Performance Solutions (now part of Strata), the monthly report analyzes 3 years’ worth of both…

Read More

Is working with a healthcare vendor a necessary evil? For leaders in the perioperative space, where vendors abound, it may be tempting to answer “yes.” The relationship between vendors and nurse leaders is a delicate balance between give and take, but sometimes the take seems to outweigh the give. Nonetheless,…

Read More

Are you part of the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) construction boom? If so, you’re not alone. Approximately 116 new facilities opened in 2023, according to Becker’s ASC Review, and more are planned for and underway in 2024. This trend shows no signs of slowing. Fortune Business Insights projects the US…

Read More

Editor's Note Hospital head counts and budgets reflect a growing emphasis on cybersecurity, according to a recent Moody’s Investment Service report. As detailed in an April 25 report in Becker’s Health IT, the Moody’s report is based on data from 148 healthcare organizations, 77% of which are hospitals. Cybersecurity team…

Read More

Editor's Note If you’d like the opportunity to share process improvement initiatives, best practices, or in-depth case studies of what perioperative success looks like, now’s the time to start planning. The program committee for the OR Business Management Conference is now accepting abstract proposals for presentations at the 2025 event,…

Read More

The past 10 years of data from the OR Manager Salary/Career Survey reflects many challenges in the healthcare environment, particularly those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. ASC leader respondents report that staffing difficulties have become particularly challenging. For example, only 15% of respondents to the 2014 survey reported increased RN…

Read More

Takeaways OR leaders have experienced financial gains over the past 9 years, but not enough to keep up with inflation in recent years. Capital and operating budget responsibilities have increased over the past 6 years. Since 2015, OR leaders have consistently been most satisfied with their current job, but much…

Read More