More than 4 years after personal protective equipment production and inventories crashed amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the “new normal” in healthcare supply chains seems to be “uncertainty.” Although hospital margins are improving and patient volumes are trending upward, “stress fractures continue to remain in place,” says Michael Schiller, CMRP,…

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Are you part of the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) construction boom? Approximately 116 new facilities opened in 2023, according to Becker’s ASC Review, and more are planned for and underway in 2024. The upward trend shows no signs of slowing. Fortune Business Insights projects the US ambulatory surgery center market…

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Editor's Note A recent analysis by the RAND Corporation, a research and analysis nonprofit, revealed a disparity between hospital and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) prices paid by employers and private payers compared to Medicare prices, Revcycle Intelligence May 15 reports. The study, covering data from 2020 to 2022, showed private…

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Editor's Note A $50 million initiative to develop cybersecurity tools for hospitals aims to protect providers and patients alike from ransomware, according to a May 20 report in Becker’s Health IT. The Universal PatchinG and Remediation for Autonomous DEfense, or UPGRADE, program was launched the same day by the Advanced Research…

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Editor's Note Citing environmental concerns, multiple health systems have stopped using desflurane anesthesia gas, Becker’s Hospital Review reported on May 7. Citing the Philadelphia Inquirer, the outlet notes that Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Marlton, N.J.-based Virtua Health are among those that have eliminated the gas so far, with the…

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Healthcare continues to evolve at a fast pace with advancements in technology and treatment, which is a big reason why finding the right medical care is a daunting task. Nowadays, patients seeking healthcare services are facing several choices, each promising the best care possible. How accurate is that promise? Determining…

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Editor's Note Solid operating margins and an improved payer mix contributed to robust financial outcomes for HCA Healthcare in the first quarter of 2024, including “significant growth” in inpatient admissions, surgeries and emergency room visits, according to an April 29 article on Investing.com. According to the report, outpatient surgery revenue…

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Editor's Note Average prices for healthcare services trended upward from 2018 to 2022 despite fluctuations in utilization of service, according to the annual Health Care Cost and Utilization Report (HCCUR) from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). In the same timeframe, per-person spending increased nearly 19%. "Prices, in particular, pose a…

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Editor's Note Most healthcare-associated surgical site infections are not caused by pathogens acquired in the hospital, but by previously harmless bacteria already present on patients’ skin prior to being admitted, according to a study published April 10 in Science Translational Medicine. Surgical site infections account for the highest annual costs…

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Editor's Note If you’d like the opportunity to share process improvement initiatives, best practices, or in-depth case studies of what perioperative success looks like, now’s the time to start planning. The program committee for the OR Business Management Conference is now accepting abstract proposals for presentations at the 2025 event,…

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