Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 27 identified the recall of the ArjoHuntleigh Polska Sara Plus floor lift as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk of smoke or fire if the lift is used when the battery is low.…

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While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve with impacts shifting over time, some of the changes it brought to healthcare—specifically the OR—may be permanent. One trend it accelerated: the rise in new ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), which specialize in elective or same-day outpatient surgical procedures. While this trend was largely…

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Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) rely on OR staff to clean the room during turnovers, sometimes contracting with outside firms to do terminal cleaning. As COVID-19 brings renewed attention to disinfection methods, ASC administrators may ask: What are the best methods to keep OR rooms clean? Since the pandemic began, the…

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Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are one of the fastest-growing and highest-margin segments of the healthcare industry. As ASCs continue to expand, facilities need to enhance their workflow processes and procedures to help divert staff more toward actual patient care. Crash cart management is an aspect for ASCs where time and…

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Editor's Note The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, is giving surgical patients an option to recover outside the hospital with comforts of home and with immediate access to a care team if needed. The Mayo Clinic program, called “Monitoring at Charter House,” allows physicians to arrange for US and international patients…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 30, announced the availability of new Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and nursing care centers (NCCs). The Reports provide updated performance measurement data on a select subset of quality measures. The ASC reports contain data through the fourth quarter…

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According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the global ambulatory surgery center (ASC) market is valued at around $81 billion, as of 2020, and it is projected to reach $120 billion by 2027. The ASC market in the US is estimated at almost $22 billion, with intelligence company…

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The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare industry could fill an entire academic curriculum at this point, let alone a single article. But one potential silver lining among the storms of bad news is the increasing migration of elective procedures from hospitals to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Although…

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Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are ramping up cardiovascular and peripheral vascular service lines, as Medicare offers payment for a growing number of cardiac procedures and accrediting bodies offer support for this methodology. In 2021, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reported that the number of ASCs billing Medicare for cardiology procedures…

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Among Surgical Care Affiliates’ (SCA) 260-plus facilities in the US, at least 10% have added cardiovascular/peripheral vascular service capabilities. SCA experts anticipate more growth in this area. However, any successful launch starts with an organizational focus on patient safety, says Ezra Erb, vice president for clinical quality at SCA, which…

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