Editor’s Note Three panelists weighed in on which trends are impacting profitability in an OR Business Management Conference session titled, "Trends in the OR—What's Driving Profitability?" What is the area most affected by last year’s high inflation and supply shortages? Staffing expenses and shortages are continuing to "put pressure on…

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Editor’s Note “Change should not be measured by the pain of change; rather, it should be measured by the consequences if I don’t” change, says Kelvin McCree, Chief Learning Officer of Laser Focus Leadership Solutions at the OR Business Management Conference opening keynote. McCree engaged the audience on one main…

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Editor's Note The OR Business Management Conference kicks off today! If you’re in Savannah, welcome! Are you ready for a week of learning, networking, and reconnecting? Registration opens at 6:30 am. Please stop by to pick up your badge if you haven’t already. Download the mobile app to see the…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, and Edward Hines Jr Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Illinois, finds that core general surgery cases performed by senior-level residents can be done safely without the attending surgeons scrubbed in. Of 109,707 patients analyzed, 11,181 had procedures…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 1 announced a new search site that is available for finding Joint Commission-accredited organizations that provide substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and the levels of care they provide. Individuals seeking care, providers, state authorities, and payers can search by organization name or location…

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Editor's Note This study from the Netherlands finds the addition of postoperative visits by anesthesia personnel (anesthesiologists or residents) to routine monitoring with modified early warning scores (MEWS) did not reduce 30-day mortality. A total of 5,190 (2,490 control, 2,700 intervention) medium- to high-risk elective surgical patients from nine academic…

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Editor's note Researchers at Australia-based RMIT University have developed a new antimicrobial suture material that can reduce infections and simplify postoperative monitoring. Laboratory testing on the surgical suture finds it is easily visible in CT scans and that it has strong antimicrobial properties, killing 99% of highly drug-resistant bacteria after…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on February 1, announced that new resources are now available in its Health Care Equity Accreditation Standards & Resource Center, chronicling efforts by Boston Medical Center in its healthcare equity journey. The new resources include: Six “Snapshots” (brief synopses) focusing on challenges, successes, and lessons…

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Editor's Note Adding more anesthesiology residency positions, even without federal funding, may help hospitals save staffing costs and address shortages of anesthesia personnel, finds a study presented January 27 at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ ADVANCE 2023, in Orlando, Florida. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center compared the…

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Editor's Note The New York Times on January 27 reported that 37% of aspiring nurses who allegedly purchased fraudulent degrees to bypass coursework and training required to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) passed the test. Many of the 7,600 individuals who paid between $10,000 and $15,000 for…

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