Research The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) has published an analysis of Medicare claims from KNG Health Consulting that projects that ASCs will save Medicare $84.8 billion from 2025 to 2034. Previously, stated ASCA, KNG used Medicare claims to determine that ASCs saved Medicare $43.2 billion between 2015 and 2024, and…
A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds that “each additional 1,000 steps” a patient takes postoperatively is linked to 18% lower odds of complications, 16% lower odds of readmission, and 6% shorter hospital stays. Surgeon researchers analyzed data from the National Institutes of…
A narrative review article published this week in ACOS General Surgery zeroes in on frailty as a surgical vital sign, with discussion of risk stratification and outcomes for these patients in general surgery. The authors, largely from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, note that although frailty has…
The University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) of Health Economics has posted a Q&A with one of the authors of a study that examines the ongoing shit of surgeries to the outpatient setting. The study, “Inpatient to Outpatient Shifts in Surgical Care: Persistence of COVID-19 Era Changes and Socioeconomic…
The ever-accelerating usage of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists among the general population is impacting perioperative teams that are concerned about patient safety. Two new studies from Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) researchers provide what the institution calls “important early evidence” in terms of perioperative considerations for these patients. The studies,…
Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a rare but potentially fatal pharmacogenetic disorder of skeletal muscle triggered by exposure to volatile anesthetics or succinylcholine. It’s a particular danger in the OR, and providers must always watch for its signs and collaborate to respond as quickly as possible to save the patient on…
As increasingly complex spine cases head to ASCs, the April 2026 issue of Neurosurgical Focus, a publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, is devoted almost entirely to the present and future of ambulatory spine surgery. The issue features these articles: Which spine surgeries belong in the ambulatory surgical…
A new retrospective observational study published in Scientific Reports examines the effect of insurance status on mortality following surgical treatment of colorectal cancers (CRC) in the U.S. “Healthcare disparities in colorectal cancer, driven by insurance status and socioeconomic factors, lead to delayed diagnoses and poor surgical outcomes,” the researchers write. “We…
A new cluster randomized crossover trial study published on JAMA Open by Wake Forest University researchers examines whether continuous (rather than intermittent) vital sign monitoring reduces abnormalities in blood pressure, oxygenation, and heart rate during the initial 48 hours after noncardiac surgery. Using four-week ward clusters among 798 postoperative patients, “the…
At some point in our lives, most of us have dropped food on the ground, quickly picked it up, and ate it – the classic “five-second rule.” Should surgical teams apply the same “rule” when an instrument hits the floor in the OR? Most healthcare providers likely would think not,…
