Tag: Scheduling & Utilization

Think 'outside the blocks' to shore up balance sheets

Editor’s Note: This article from Whitman Partners addresses some ways OR nurse leaders can help their health systems recover from the financial fallout and disruption in normal processes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Whitman Partners is a Portland, Oregon-based specialty search firm dedicated to placing directors of surgical services at…

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By: Carisa Brewster
October 21, 2020
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What does it take to become an ERAS hospital?

Leaders at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System in Richmond started the journey to become an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) hospital in 2016 with the following problem statement: Across surgical specialties, and regardless of superior surgical technique, perioperative care, and anesthesia care, patients can experience extended length of hospital…

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By: Paula Spencer, MSHA, PMP, CPHIMS
August 21, 2020
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ASC staffing and surgical volume drop in response to pandemic

Nearly a third (30%) of ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders have experienced layoffs of direct care staff during the past year, according to the 2020 annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, up from a mere 4% in 2019. COVID-19 is the likely culprit: Most of the comments received in response to…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
August 21, 2020
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Different timetables, similar challenges seen in elective surgical caseloads

Resuming elective surgical procedures is critical for recovering revenue lost during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and treating patients whose health may have been compromised while awaiting surgery. Timetables and protocols for resuming those procedures tend to differ by facility, but OR leaders nationwide feel that “we’re all…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
June 17, 2020
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Agile, data-driven strategy for managing the OR after COVID-19

As state authorities begin to ease restrictions imposed by COVID-19, physicians, nurse leaders, and administrators face a momentous challenge: resuming elective surgical procedures that have been postponed for several weeks or months. How will they accommodate the looming glut of elective surgery demand with limited infrastructure and staff who are…

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By: Derrick Bransby, MBA
June 17, 2020
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Pre-COVID initiatives pave way for successful crisis management

Proactive leadership, early preparation, and ongoing planning and communication have helped mitigate COVID-19 threats at Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida. As a result, resuming elective surgical cases in early May was a relatively seamless process thanks to process improvements made before the pandemic hit. “We started working on COVID-19…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
June 17, 2020
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COVID-19 patients have greatly increased risk of postop mortality

Editor's Note Patients having surgery after contracting COVID-19 are at greatly increased risk of postoperative death, this study finds. Researchers examined data for 1,128 patients from 235 hospitals in 24 countries. Overall 30-day postoperative mortality was 23.8%. Mortality was high across all subgroups including: elective surgery, 18.9% emergency surgery, 25.6%…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 3, 2020
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Pediatric modification of scoring scale helps surgeons prioritize procedures during COVID-19

Editor's Note In this study, researchers found that a pediatric adaptation of the adult Medically Necessary Time-Sensitive (MeNTS) risk stratification system was a valuable decision tool that helped them prioritize surgical procedures in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers tested the pediatric MeNTS (pMeNTS) in 101 patients scheduled for…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 1, 2020
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An agile, data-driven strategy for post-COVID-19 OR management

Editor's Note As states begin to ease restrictions imposed by COVID-19, physicians, nurse leaders, and administrators face a momentous challenge in resuming elective surgical procedures. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center developed a model that made best use of available data (eg, case logs, forecasts, etc). Adoption of an agile methodology—a…

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By: Judy Mathias
May 14, 2020
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OR leaders chart new territory for resuming elective surgery

Elective surgical procedures that were temporarily suspended in mid-March are now on the table—or soon will be—at some US facilities. The ban, announced on March 18 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was enacted to free up resources for facilities overwhelmed by surges of COVID-19 patients. On…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
May 12, 2020
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