Tag: Data

Analysis finds unplanned returns to the OR overestimated

Editor's Note In this single institution study, the most common reasons for unplanned return to the OR (uROR) were infection and hemorrhage. However, the researchers found that a large number of cases were incorrectly classified as uROR, when they were instead planned reoperations without adequate documentation. Using uROR as reported…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 21, 2017
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Cost data persuade surgeons to be more frugal

Surgeons usually don’t have a high awareness of costs, partly because they haven’t had an easy way to know them. An unfortunate byproduct of this lack of knowledge can be higher OR costs. “Imagine what it’s like if, when you go to the grocery store, there are no price tags,…

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By: OR Manager
June 20, 2017
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Racial disparities in surgical mortality narrowing

Editor's Note Despite concerns that quality improvement efforts may widen disparities, national racial disparities in surgical mortality are narrowing, this study finds. Using Medicare claims data from 2005 to 2014, Harvard researchers found that, overall, national mortality trends improved for both black and white patients by 0.10% and 0.07% per…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 12, 2017
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VA begins digitalizing healthcare data

Editor's Note The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has started converting older, inactive paper healthcare records to electronic health records (EHRs) in an effort to reduce the amount of office space used for storage of patient records and to streamline the claims processes, the April 24 EHR intelligence reports. This…

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By: Judy Mathias
April 27, 2017
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OR utilization improves with data gleaned from software program

One of the biggest challenges for OR managers is efficient use of OR blocks. OR managers struggle to balance revenue and utilization targets with surgeon and staff preferences. The result is underutilized OR time, unnecessary costs, and dissatisfied staff. “Let’s face it, our block allocation process isn’t very efficient,” says…

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By: Judith M. Mathias, MA, RN
April 21, 2017
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ACS NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator accurately estimates complication risks

Editor's Note This study finds that the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Surgical Risk Calculator serves its intended purpose of providing a general purpose risk calculator, which is applicable across many surgical domains, using easily understood and generally available predictive information. The Surgical Risk…

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By: Judy Mathias
April 7, 2017
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Study: Physicians now spend half their time on computer tasks

Editor's Note Over time, electronic health records (EHRs) show a decline in face-to-face patient assessments by physicians and an increase in computer tasks, this study finds. Physicians now spend 50% of their time with patients and 50% of their time on computers.  The analysis included 471 physicians who worked on…

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By: Judy Mathias
April 7, 2017
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ACP position paper calls for reducing administrative tasks for physicians

Editor's Note A position paper from the American College of Physicians (ACP) makes recommendations on administrative tasks to mitigate or eliminate their adverse effects on physicians, their patients, and the whole healthcare system. Among the recommendations: Stakeholders external to physician practices (ie, payers, government and other oversight organizations, vendors, and…

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By: Judy Mathias
March 28, 2017
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Association between surgeon scorecard and OR costs

Editor's Note Providing surgeons with individualized cost feedback and surgical supply costs was associated with significantly reduced surgical supply costs, without negatively affecting patient outcomes in this study. The study involved 63 surgeons in an intervention group and 186 surgeons in a control group. Surgeons in the intervention group received…

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By: Judy Mathias
March 16, 2017
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Healthgrades releases 2017 top hospitals list

Editor's Note Healthgrades (Denver) on February 24 released its list of America’s 50 and 100 Best Hospitals for 2017. The top 50 represent 1% of all hospitals and are located in 22 states. California has the most at 10, followed by Illinois with 7. The top 100 hospitals are those…

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By: Judy Mathias
March 1, 2017
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