Ambulatory Surgery
Prevalence of malignant hyperthermia in New York ASCs
Editor's Note The prevalence of malignant hyperthermia (MH) in ambulatory surgery center (ASC) patients in New York state is approximately 1 per 500,000 and varies with surgical procedures, this study finds. Analyzing New York State Ambulatory Surgery Dataset data from 2002 to 2011, researchers found 31 of nearly 18 million…
Employers excluding outpatient surgery from insurance plans
Editor's Note Last year, government regulators blocked large companies that employ many low-wage workers from claiming that insurance coverage with no inpatient hospital benefits met the Affordable Care Act’s rules. These same companies are now purporting to meet the rules with plans that exclude outpatient surgery, the January 21 Washington Post…
Outpatient facilities differ in colonoscopy quality
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, calculated a risk-adjusted outcomes measure of outpatient colonoscopy, which shows important variation in quality among outpatient facilities. The outcomes measure profiles outpatient facility quality by examining rates of unplanned hospital visits in the 7 days after colonoscopy.…
Recovery centers extend stays beyond 24 hours
One of the last things ambulatory surgery center (ASC) staff want to do is transfer a patient to a hospital because it increases the risk of infection and patient discomfort, and it’s a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measure (ASC-4). CMS and most states traditionally have not…
Oregon Outpatient Surgery Center performs same-day total hips
Editor's Note The Oregon Outpatient Surgery Center (Tigard, Oregon) is the first ambulatory surgery center in the Northwest to perform same-day total hip replacements, the January 4 Oregonian reports. The center offers both posterior and anterior total hips for qualified patients. Patients are carefully screened and must be in good…
Memorial Sloan Kettering opens outpatient cancer surgery facility
Editor's Note The new Josie Robertson Surgery Center, opened by Memorial Sloan Kettering (New York City), is a first-of-its-kind facility that allows cancer patients to go home within a day of significant surgical procedures. The surgery center has 12 ORs and can accommodate 60 surgical procedures per day. Surgeons, anesthesiologists,…
CMS announces ASC quality reporting appeals process
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on December 16 announced that ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) subject to a reduction in Medicare outpatient payments in CY 2016 because of noncompliance with the ASC quality reporting program may submit a request for reconsideration by March 17, 2016. Eligible…
California issues new regs for outpatient surgery settings
Editor's Note California Senate Bill 396, designed to strengthen regulation of unlicensed outpatient surgery settings, goes into effect January 1, 2016, the Joint Commission reports. The Bill builds upon existing regulations that mandate facility accreditation of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and office-based surgery practices that are not state licensed or…
Fine print in supply contracts often holds keys to cost savings
When it comes to buying medical-surgical supplies, quality, safety, and physician comfort are foremost—but that doesn’t mean price is no object. Even though ambulatory surgery center (ASC) staff often lack materials management expertise, they can achieve cost savings in several ways, especially if they brush up on terms used in…
CMS approves ambulatory surgery patient experience survey
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the administration of an Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (OAS CAHPS) Survey. The voluntary survey, which will start in 2016, includes 37 questions that will collect information monthly about a patient’s experience…
Free Daily News
- Study: Longer shifts, understaffing increase nurse sickness absence
- Power loss risks prompt FDA Class 1 recall designation for heart pump accessories
- Therapy dogs ease nurse burnout, boost morale
- Personalized perioperative pain management reduces opioid use
- Study: Colibactin-producing gut bacteria fuel colorectal cancer surge
- Augmented reality gains FDA nod, 10k-case milestone in orthopedics, strides in outpatient surgery
- Smart patient selection anchors DISC’s high-acuity spine ASC model
- Postop opioid prescriptions following outpatient surgery see steep, sustained fall
- Study: Bariatric surgery offers cost, survival benefits for cirrhosis patients
- AI monitoring, remote surgery advance