The Business of Surgery Radio frequency identification systems (RFID) have the potential to cause critical patient equipment to malfunction, Dutch researchers report in the June 25 JAMA The researchers tested 2 types of RFID systems in a nonclinical setting with 41 medical devices such as external pacemakers, ventilators, infusion pumps, and anesthesia devices. There…
Attending conferences is all about building bridges to transfer ideas from the conference into clinical practice. That's why San Francisco, the city with the Golden Gate Bridge, was a fitting site for the 2008 OR Business Management Conference, a meeting filled with ideas for OR leaders. The 300 attendees chose…
You've had a value analysis program for a number of years. You think it might have run its course. What's next? Value analysis, which has been in the forefront of supply chain management for years, is a systematic process for making purchasing decisions and identifying savings opportunities that consider not…
With no margin for error in the operating room supply chain, the cost of obtaining the right products in the right quantities can easily get out of hand. While product prices can be somewhat regulated by contract, in an emergency, there is little point in quibbling over freight charges for…
After 5 years of planning, Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, opened its 18 new ORs in November 2006. A year later, physicians, staff, and the project team are happy with the outcome—a sign of success in the planning and design process. The new ORs and postanesthesia care…
On-time starts for the first case of the day, which had been running at 38%, shot up to 94% within 1 year. Physicians started to participate in decisions about the block schedule. And when capital budget time came, the physicians sat around the table and decided among themselves on spending…
When you buy a car, you can get a 5-year warranty. A refrigerator and washer and dryer come with a 1-year guarantee. But if a patient has heart bypass surgery and develops a sternal wound infection, not only is there no guarantee, but the patient's insurer will probably be charged…
Supply chain management doesn't normally conjure images of diamonds and clocks, but it did when Eugene Schneller, PhD, traced the trends in his keynote at the OR Business Management Conference held May 9 to 11 in Savannah, Georgia. Schneller, who is professor and director of health sector supply chain initiatives…
Removing the gallbladder through the vagina. Performing an appendectomy through the mouth. Doing an abdominal exploration through the rectum. It is a startling concept, but physicians are exploring new ways to perform surgery using the body's natural openings. Many questions remain, but researchers believe the approach holds promise of a…
What's the real value of your value analysis program? Most organizations say they are using value analysis teams to make purchasing decisions, particularly for products that involve physician preference and carry a high price tag. The financial impact is obvious, but value analysis also has intangible benefits because it can…
