Selecting the right software for your perioperative services department is one of the most important decisions a manager makes. The software used to manage perioperative services is critical because the OR drives the hospital's inpatient capacity as well as the revenue and margin. The software must enable the OR manager…

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The number of items unintentionally left behind after surgery remained at zero for the second full year after counting practices were reinforced at the University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC) in Minneapolis. In contrast, 8 such incidents were reported in the year and a half before the project. In Minnesota,…

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If you're selecting or upgrading a perioperative information system, you might like to ask your peers what they think of their systems. If they could start over, which system would they choose? Which vendor is the strongest for documentation? Materials management? How do companies rate on integration? KLAS Enterprises provides…

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Are you planning to introduce intraoperative nursing documentation as part of your OR's information system? A veteran perioperative nurse has tips on how to make the process go smoothly. Helen Blanton, RN, who has a rare combination of perioperative nursing and IT experience, assists with implementation projects for surgical services…

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Minnesota's hospitals and surgery centers are taking lessons from state reporting on adverse events to make surgery safer. They are fine-tuning protocols for preventing wrong-site surgery and retained foreign bodies. In January, the state issued its third annual public report on adverse events, which tallies errors from hospitals, ambulatory surgery…

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One seasoned OR director found herself at a career crossroads a few years ago. "I'd had many roles over the years: staff nurse, manager, director, vice president," she says. "You get to a point where you've done everything and ask yourself, 'What do I do now?'" She knew a chief…

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What helps more than anything else to attract and keep a good staff? Make sure you have great team leaders and managers. And be sure they know managing people is a primary part of the job. Nothing is more important in helping to achieve the department's objectives than an engaged…

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OR managers are raising questions about the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). They say they try to be sympathetic to the needs of employees that the act is supposed to alleviate, but the prolonged leaves can cause staffing problems. Questions focus on the privacy requirements of the act.…

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Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders sent a message to Washington in recent weeks that they want the government to revisit the formula it is considering as part of its plan to change the ASC reimbursement system. The new system is scheduled to take effect in 2008. Under the proposal issued…

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More Americans are turning to bariatric surgery as the answer to morbid obesity. In the past, they faced open gastric bypass surgery as the only surgical route to lose weight and improve their health. But endoscopic innovations, including laparoscopic gastric bypass and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), result in fewer…

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