Editor's Note “Has your CNO [chief nursing officer] ever said you are the CEO of your department?” Jessica Gruendler, DNP, senior director of nursing, Perioperative Services, at Dignity Health, posed to OR Manager Conference attendees at the start of this session in a packed room with standing room only. A…

Read More

Editor's Note “I don't want to start by asking how many of you have been in your role for 1 to 5 years, or 5 to 10, or 10 to 20,” said Pamela Hunt, BS, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, consultant and associate faculty at Indiana University, during the “Key Budgeting…

Read More

Takeaways • Many tools for measuring productivity do not reflect the complexity of the perioperative setting. • Multidisciplinary teams can help establish productivity metrics and tools. • Productivity measures vary across the perioperative continuum. For most perioperative leaders, discussions about productivity do not top the list of enjoyable parts of…

Read More

The surgical department often deals with challenges like underused block time, inefficient scheduling, limited data, and unpredictable demand. They also struggle to match staff skills to service needs. LeanTaaS and its software help to tackle these issues by using lean principles, predictive analytics, and machine learning. The LeanTaaS solutions are…

Read More

Editor's Note Just 10 minutes of your time could turn into 3 days of education and networking at OR Manager Conference in Nashville! Participate in the 2023 survey to help us (and you) better understand the current state of the perioperative industry and overall job satisfaction. In such a dynamic…

Read More

Editor's Note Your insight can help shape future educational content from OR Manager! We understand the challenges you face as an OR leader in the transforming healthcare landscape. To better understand your experiences, educational needs, and overall job satisfaction, OR Manager surveys perioperative leaders through our annual Salary/Career Survey. The 2023…

Read More

Editor's Note US News & World Report on July 27 released its best hospital rankings for 2021-2022, with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, earning the top spot for the 6th year in a row. Rounding out the top five in the Honor Roll were: Cleveland Clinic UCLA Medical Center…

Read More

First assistants (FAs) can play an important role in achieving optimal outcomes and higher surgical case volumes. Part 1 of this two-part series discussed types, education, and certification of FAs (OR Manager, May 2021, pp 1, 15-18). Part 2 answers questions related to risk management and oversight, and discusses possible…

Read More

Non-physician surgical first assistants (FAs) perform a variety of tasks—everything from closing an incision and inserting drains to harvesting veins for bypass procedures and preparing anterior cruciate ligament grafts. A significant benefit of FAs is shorter case times, which may help reduce patient morbidity and mortality and increase case volumes.…

Read More

To rebound from the industry-wide disruption caused by COVID-19, many healthcare organizations are focused on optimizing OR processes to clear the backlog of elective surgical procedures and improve financial performance. However, traditional OR block management methods for surgical schedules provide limited foresight into what block time will ultimately go unused,…

Read More