OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Quantity of Evidence Base (Low) The evidence base consists of a single controlled study of spinal fusion that compared the accuracy of pedicle screw placement in a patient group that had two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) intraoperative imaging using the O-arm System…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 The message coming out of Washington is clear: Do more with less. Under Medicare’s hospital inpatient value-based purchasing (VBP) program launched July 1, 2011, DRG payments will be tied to performance on quality and patient satisfaction metrics. This is part of the…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 The Christiana SurgiCenter, a 7-OR ambulatory surgery center (ASC) was losing volume. Although its ORs were staffed 8 hours a day, surgeons were saying they couldn’t get their cases scheduled. The problem turned out to be the block schedule. It was like…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Over half of teaching hospitals (52%) and larger surgical departments with 10 or more ORs (56%) now have OR business managers, according to the 2011 OR Manager Salary/Career survey. The position has become increasingly common over the past decade to meet the…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 A record-breaking number of OR directors, managers, and business managers converged at the Hyatt Regency Chicago for the 24th Annual Managing Today’s OR Suite conference September 28 to 30, 2011. The 1,029 attendees heard information-packed programs, viewed innovative posters, networked with colleagues,…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Older patients drove more safely than younger ones after ambulatory surgery, finds a study presented at the 2011 American Society of Anesthesiologists meeting in October in Chicago. With ambulatory surgery becoming more common and increased use of short-acting anesthetics, “our team recognized…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 The first nationwide system for collecting adverse events from anesthesia, pain management, and perioperative care has been set up by the Anesthesia Quality Institute. The intent of the Anesthesia Incident Reporting System (AIRS) is to collect information to help improve patient safety.…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 For the first time, the Joint Commission has named the top performing hospitals on its key quality measures. On the list are 405 hospitals (about 14% of those accredited) that met 2 criteria for 2010: 95% or higher performance on a composite…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 There is no standard method for charging for OR time. In this article, 5 OR business managers describe their OR charging structures, which primarily are based on the OR minute and assign a level of service based on resource utilization. The departments…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 November 7-13, 2011, is Perioperative Nurse Week. The AORN Foundation is pleased to provide the opportunity to honor colleagues by making a donation to the Foundation in their name. An acknowledgment note will be sent to each colleague honored through a donation.…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Home washing machines may not always use hot enough water to eliminate bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter from hospital uniforms, according to a study in the November 2011 Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. Researchers in the UK tested nurses’…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 A new high-throughput OR pod at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston is designed to expedite patient flow and make the most of the OR’s resources during regular weekday house. The 4-OR pod with 13 perianesthesia bays is part of a 28-OR…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 • NOVEMBER 2011 Editor’s Note OR leaders are striving to make evidence-based decisions about new technology. OR Manager, Inc, and ECRI Institute have joined in a collaboration to bring quarterly supplements with summaries of the Institute’s Emerging Technology Evidence Reports to OR…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 In this age of data and measurement, we may not think of compassionate care as something that can be measured. It’s an intangible yet critical aspect of care and healing. With the intense focus on austerity, tight reimbursement, and managing costs, there’s…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Would receiving a single payment for procedures like total hip and knee replacement bring hospitals and surgeons into closer alignment? Would care be delivered in a more coordinated manner with higher quality and greater cost-effectiveness? It’s the way more Medicare reimbursement may…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 FDA collaborates to prevent surgical fires The Food and Drug Administration and 16 partner organizations have launched an initiative to: increase awareness of factors contributing to surgical fires disseminate tools for preventing surgical fires promote surgical fire risk reduction practices. Tools include…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 A new model for performing regional peripheral nerve blocks in the preoperative holding area with RN assistance has been a big win for Stony Brook University Medical Center Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) in Stony Brook, New York. The model has allowed orthopedic…

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