Editor's Note Monday’s solar eclipse has prompted hospitals in affected areas to implement precautionary measures in advance of an expected influx of visitors as well as potential communication and other difficulties, Becker’s Hospital Review reported April 2. Areas in the path of totality, which stretches from Central Texas to Northeastern…

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Editor's Note Reducing surgeon manipulation of electronic health record (EHR) OR scheduling systems can improve efficiency, save resources, and enhance service to patients, according to data published in the March/April issue of the Journal of Healthcare Management. Although predictive models using EHR and machine learning improve accuracy compared to traditional…

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Editor's Note A paper published March 29 in the journal Bioengineering examines the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into hospital and healthcare systems and the way in which it is augmenting clinical decision-making, optimizing hospital operation and management, improving medical image analysis, and transforming patient care and monitoring through…

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Takeaways OR leaders have experienced financial gains over the past 9 years, but not enough to keep up with inflation in recent years. Capital and operating budget responsibilities have increased over the past 6 years. Since 2015, OR leaders have consistently been most satisfied with their current job, but much…

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Critical assessment and rapid response are essentials skills for perioperative staff members, and that goes double for perioperative leadership. Patient-centered leadership is a must. Like the OR, the postanesthesia care unit (PACU, formerly referred to as the “recovery room”) is a critical care area plagued by an influx of new…

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This past February, the OR Business Management Conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona, brought together business managers of all walks of life. The intimate event was once again a symbiotic blend between financial- and business-centric education and high-quality networking. The education offered for seasoned and new business leaders alike, perhaps more…

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Editor's Note US News & World Report, recognized globally as an authority in healthcare rankings and consumer advice, announced in November 2023 the addition of Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers to its annual series of ratings that evaluate healthcare sites. This new category comes in response to the growing prevalence of…

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Editor's Note US Representatives from California and Texas reintroduced the National Patient Safety Board (NPSB) Act, which aims to establish a public-private research and development team “dedicated to preventing and reducing healthcare-related harms." The March 11 announcement comes during Patient Safety Awareness Week, an annual awareness initiative focusing on the…

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Editor's Note Successful use of augmented reality in a cardiac ablation procedure holds additional promise for training as well as more advanced OR applications, according to a February 29 report from Stanford Medicine. During ablation, a treatment for heart arrythmias, surgeons typically refer to as many as eight screens depicting…

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Editor's Note A new Alabama law provides civil and criminal immunity for providers and patients of in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, the Associated Press reported March 7. Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court effectively ruled that frozen embryos are people with a constitutional right to life, casting doubt on the…

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