Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, examine the feasibility of transitioning back to reusable surgical gowns and the corresponding cost savings and reductions in solid waste. Disposable surgical gowns were replaced with polyester reusable surgical gowns with AAMI level III barrier protection that…

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Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced that it is seeking proposals through September 7 to help fund and develop cybersecurity technologies for healthcare systems, clinics, and healthcare-related devices,  the August 17 WIRED reports. The Digital Health Security…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced, on August 22, that it had revised its requirements related to medication compounding for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals, effective January 1, 2024. The revisions include Element of Performance (EP) 3 for National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) NPSG.03.04.01: "Label all medications, medication containers,…

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In the May issue of OR Manager, an article from us at the Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) covered the definition of the nurse leader in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) space, and what that role may look like depending upon the structural organization of the ASC. We covered that…

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ASC leaders continue to see increased surgical volumes but are finding it difficult to staff their centers, according to the 2023 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. More than half (56%) of respondents reported increased volume in the past 12 months, the same as last year. Yet the ability to recruit new…

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Ambulatory is the term the industry is “stuck with” because that is the name the founders came up with in 1970, says David Shapiro, MD, CASC, CPHRM, LHR, an anesthesiologist with extensive experience in ambulatory surgery management and a member of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) board.…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Miami examines the effect of a preoperative walkthrough of a patient’s day of surgery using augmented reality (AR) on perioperative anxiety levels. A total of 95 patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery at an outpatient surgery center were randomized to an AR intervention…

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Editor's Note This study from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, examines the association between long-standing poverty and postoperative outcomes. The analysis included 335, 595 patients who underwent lung resection, colectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting, or lower extremity joint replacement, and who were categorized according to the duration…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, examines the association between intraoperative opioid administration and postoperative pain and opioid use. A total of 61, 249 surgical patients were included in the analysis. The researchers found that increased intraoperative: fentanyl and…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, examines the use of a machine learning (ML) model to predict the suitability for having a surgical procedure performed at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) vs a hospital-based outpatient department (HOPD). To augment a labor intensive manual process in…

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