Managing allograft tissue is a challenge for a single facility. Developing a tissue management process for a health system takes the challenge to a new level. That was the situation facing the Moses Cone Health System, Greensboro, North Carolina, which has 7 surgical sites on 6 campuses. During a Joint…

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RN employment has risen during the recession, yet large shortages are still expected 243,000 more RNs were employed full-time in hospitals in 2008 compared to 2007—an unprecedented increase of 18%. Younger nurses are entering the workforce in higher numbers. Still, a shortfall of RNs is expected to develop about 2018…

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The recession has hit hospital ORs. In all, 80% of OR managers and directors responding to the 19th annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey said the economic downturn has affected their OR staffing. The most common effects have been reduced overtime and elimination of open positions. Over one-third have required staff…

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The economic downturn has checked in at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), although with less impact than in hospital OR suites. More than two-thirds (69%) of ASC respondents to the 19th annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey said the downturn had affected their staffing in the past 6 months, primarily through decreased…

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All of Rhode Island's 13 acute care hospitals have agreed to a single safe-surgery protocol, in what is thought to be a first for a state. The protocol, announced in July 2009, outlines steps for 3 phases of surgery—briefing, time-out, and debriefing—and includes elements of the Joint Commission Universal Protocol…

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Nearly half of ORs (48.5%) in an online survey by OR Manager say they have implemented the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist. Of those, almost two-thirds (64%) say they think it has improved patient safety. Several said the checklist helped avert serious errors. The online survey was sent…

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ORs are ramping up efforts to keep surgical patients warm. Medicare has adopted an expanded measure on perioperative temperature management as part of the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP). The new measure, SCIP Infection 10, calls for active warming or nor-mothermia for all surgical patients under general or neuraxial anesthesia…

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Airline pilots and race pit crews bring new perspectives to OR throughput, so why not engineers? With the help of a University of Southern California (USC) Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems project, turnover time in 3 California hospitals dropped by an average of 9 minutes, or 21%.…

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In today's recessionary economy, capital equipment, like real estate, represents a buyer's market. For an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) contemplating new imaging or operating room equipment, believe it or not this is a great time to go shopping. "In my 42 years of medical equipment planning and procurement, there has…

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The federal government is funding infection control surveys in more than 125 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in 12 states by September 30, 2009, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced July 30, 2009. The surveys, funded by economic stimulus money, will be carried out in Maine, New Jersey,…

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