Editor's Note An anesthesiology-based service can meet the challenge of providing efficient and high-level care for surgical patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices, including pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), this study finds. Such a service, however, requires specialized provider training and strong support from the electrophysiology/cardiology service, and will…

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Editor's Note In this study, the use of a preinduction checklist significantly improved information exchange, knowledge of critical information, and perception of safety in anesthesia teams. A total of 105 teams using the checklist were compared with 100 control teams. The outcome scores for the checklist group vs the controls…

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Editor's Note Nearly one-quarter of more than 600 wrong-site surgery events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PPSA) since 2004 have involved wrong-site anesthesia blocks. Based on these findings, PPSA has developed evidence-based practices for preventing wrong-site surgery and wrong-site anesthesia blocks that complement the Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol.…

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Editor's Note When anesthesiologists supervise anesthesia residents and nurse anesthetists, the amount of clinical work (total weekly hours) they perform does not positively correlate with the quality of the supervision they provide, this study finds. The results suggest that anesthesiology department managers should be monitoring (and perhaps reporting) the quality…

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Editor's Note Implementation of a pediatric screening questionnaire (Snoring, Trouble Breathing, Un-Refreshed [STBUR]) helped anesthesia professionals identify children with symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing before undergoing general anesthesia, in this study. The likelihood of developing a perioperative respiratory adverse event increased three-fold when three of the five questions were answered yes…

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Editor's Note A survey of members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists on the level of responsibility they perceive stakeholders to have in reducing the cost of healthcare and perioperative care delivery found: physicians bear “major responsibility” (38%) physicians bear “some responsibility” (58%) physicians bear “no responsibility” (4%) hospitals bear…

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Our Take In this study, functional capacity to perform activities of daily living was an independent predictor of postoperative mortality within each ASA class, indicating that it should be incorporated into routine preoperative evaluations. The likelihood for mortality was significantly lower for patients who were functionally independent than for those…

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Part 1 of this two-part series, published in the March issue of OR Manager, discussed the perioperative surgical home (PSH) concept. In this article, healthcare providers who are in the planning stages of a PSH as well as those with several years of experience with using this model of care…

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The medical home, consisting of a patient-centered team focusing on the coordinated delivery of care, is now embedded in the healthcare lexicon, but the perioperative surgical home (PSH) is a more recent concept that is only starting to spread across the country. “The number of hospitals in the US with…

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services penalizes hospitals for readmissions stemming from myocardial infarction, heart failure, pneumonia, and total hip and knee arthroplasty, and in 2016, coronary artery bypass graft procedures will be added to the mix. For this and many other reasons, OR leaders everywhere are taking steps…

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