Uncategorized In a new alert, the Joint Commission adds its voice to calls to curb fatigue from extended work days and work hours. The alert highlights evidence linking fatigue to adverse events and outlines actions organizations can take to mitigate fatigue, especially among nurses and physicians. The commission says the alert…
Hospitals have aggressive cost reduction goals coupled with more quality incentives. “In the past, we would hear of goals in the millions of dollars,” says Lani Berman, MPH, MBA, senior vice president, performance services for VHA Inc. Today, she says goals are often in the hundreds of millions, especially for…
A 4-year study shows patient outcomes didn’t change significantly when hospitals and physicians joined in a pay-for-performance (P4P) program for 8 types of surgery. The researchers say this is one of the first studies of P4P to look at patient outcomes. The project used a gainsharing model in which 3…
It’s common for physicians to order 2 units of blood. But with growing awareness of the hazards of transfusions, hospitals are adopting stricter measures to manage their blood supplies, including developing guidelines for transfusions and making sure physicians are compliant. Over the past 5 years, research has shown that transfusions…
OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 ACCREDITATION Accreditation accountability, Mar: 6 CMS anesthesia guidelines, Apr: 23 Reprocessing laryngoscope blades,Dec: 15 Top performers listed, Nov: 24 ALLOGRAFTS Bone allografts, part 5, Feb: 20 Bone allografts: part 4, Jan: 15 Practical guide, Mar: Supplement Questions for suppliers, Jan: 16 AMBULATORY…
OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 An analysis of 12 orthopedic and cardiac surgery categories by Premier finds 323 hospitals losing $1.82 billion annually because of Medicare payment shortfalls. Medicare reimbursement rates, lack of outcomes evidence, and costs of physician preference items (PPIs) are the main reasons. Hospitals…
OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 Medicare is proposing a major overhaul to its conditions of participation (CoP) that would give hospitals wider latitude in the use of practitioners such as advanced practice RNs (APRNs) and physician assistants (PA). The rule would also expand use of standing orders…
OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 Santa dragged his lawn chair out to a sunny patch to sort through his bag of holiday gifts. With global warming, he is able to relax in shorts and a tank top instead of his traditional bulky red suit. He checked his…
OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 Slower walking in elderly patients may signal a higher risk of postop complications and longer stays, finds a study presented at the American College of Surgeons meeting in October 2011. Surgical patients 65 and older were given a preop walking test: standing…
OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 Take the right people and add the right software and the right processes. The result: an end-to-end surgical supply and inventory management system built on trust that yields useful data for decision making. In 2010, its first year, the team at the…
