Costs & Cost Controls

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March 2025
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Minimizing wasted 'In-OR' minutes at start of day at a pediatric AMC

The OR is the financial motor of a hospital. As such, inefficiencies in this space adversely impact patient safety as well as the financial stability of the hospital and/or healthcare system. The first case on-time starts (FCOTS) metric is one of the primary benchmarks for assessing OR efficiency. The following…

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By: Katrina M. Schuh, DNP, RN; Quinn Mullikin, PhD, RN; Peter Nichol, MD, PhD; and Susan L. Jones, MBA
September 26, 2023
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Assistance program leads to major drop in ER visits, costs for immigrants

Editor's Note A study from economists and public health officials in the September 2023 issue of the journal American Economic Review: Insights found that when undocumented immigrants were provided assistance to visit primary care doctors via a pilot program, it resulted in a 21% drop in emergency room (ER) use.…

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By: Brita Belli
September 22, 2023
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Business session: Profitability in the OR—Benchmark Your OR's Performance

Editor's Note “Has your CNO [chief nursing officer] ever said you are the CEO of your department?” Jessica Gruendler, DNP, senior director of nursing, Perioperative Services, at Dignity Health, posed to OR Manager Conference attendees at the start of this session in a packed room with standing room only. A…

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By: Tarsilla Moura
September 20, 2023
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New CMS rule focuses on postop opioids in outpatient settings

Editor's Note The Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act, which is set to take effect in 2025, will set up a separate Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) payment for certain nonopioid pain management techniques in outpatient and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) settings, the September 12 Becker’s…

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By: Judy Mathias
September 12, 2023
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SSI rates before, after reuse of PPE during pandemic

Editor's Note This study from Trinity Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, compares prepandemic surgical site infection (SSI) rates before reusing personal protective equipment (PPE), to pandemic SSI rates after reusing PPE in trauma surgical patients. A total of 48,987 patients were included in the analysis, with half in the postpandemic group.…

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By: Judy Mathias
August 24, 2023
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Survey: ASC volumes continue to rise amid staffing challenges

healthcare nurse staff

ASC leaders continue to see increased surgical volumes but are finding it difficult to staff their centers, according to the 2023 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. More than half (56%) of respondents reported increased volume in the past 12 months, the same as last year. Yet the ability to recruit new…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
August 21, 2023
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Market forces affecting the ambulatory surgery industry

Ambulatory is the term the industry is “stuck with” because that is the name the founders came up with in 1970, says David Shapiro, MD, CASC, CPHRM, LHR, an anesthesiologist with extensive experience in ambulatory surgery management and a member of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) board.…

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By: Judith M. Mathias, MA, BS, RN
August 21, 2023
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Effect of poverty on surgical care, postop outcomes

Editor's Note This study from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, examines the association between long-standing poverty and postoperative outcomes. The analysis included 335, 595 patients who underwent lung resection, colectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting, or lower extremity joint replacement, and who were categorized according to the duration…

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By: Judy Mathias
August 14, 2023
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Association of intraop opioid administration with postop pain, opioid use

Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, examines the association between intraoperative opioid administration and postoperative pain and opioid use. A total of 61, 249 surgical patients were included in the analysis. The researchers found that increased intraoperative: fentanyl and…

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By: Judy Mathias
August 10, 2023
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Cost-utility of ASC vs inpatient anterior cervical discectomy, fusion

Editor's Note This study from researchers at Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates and SpineFirst, Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina, examines the cost-utility of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) performed in an ASC vs an inpatient hospital setting at 1-year follow-up.  A total of 6,504 patients having 1-to 2-level ACDF…

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By: Judy Mathias
August 3, 2023
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