OR Business
Physician practices spend $15.4 billion annually on quality reporting
Editor's Note Physician practices each year spend 785 hours per physician to track and report quality measures for Medicare and private health insurers at a cost of more than $15.4 billion a year, this study finds. Eight in 10 physicians surveyed reported spending more effort on quality measures now than…
Study: Performing total knees in high-volume hospitals could save billions
Editor's Note If all total knee replacements were performed at high-volume hospitals, it could save the US healthcare system between $2.5 and $4 billion annually by 2030, finds a study presented March 4 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. In this study of nearly 90,000…
Study doesn’t support capnography for colonoscopy
Editor's Note Capnographic monitoring during outpatient colonoscopy with moderate sedation increased costs significantly and did not improve patient safety or satisfaction, this study finds. The analysis included 966 patients (465 without and 501 with capnography) who underwent colonoscopy at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. Patients and nurses reported…
CMS publishes Medicare fee-for-service provider and supplier lists
Editor's Note As part of efforts to improve care delivery, data sharing, and transparency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on February 22 published a list of Medicare fee-for-service providers and suppliers currently approved to bill Medicare. The Moratoria Provider Services and Utilization Data Tool includes interactive…
Data analytics improve odds for predicting surgical case volume
Recommendations emerging from a data analytics project have helped OR leaders at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, better anticipate daily surgical case volume and share that information with their managers. Data gleaned from the project are now being used to predict staffing needs for the OR, anesthesia department,…
Post-OR career path may lead to business opportunity--Part 1
Some perioperative services leaders retire from the OR with plans to become consultants, drawing on their years of experience to help facilities and remain active in the field. Some do not envision this or any other type of post-retirement career, yet they find themselves lured into a business opportunity. Entrepreneurship…
Nursing work environment linked to better surgical value
Hospitals with better nursing work environments and above-average staffing levels were associated with better surgical value (ie, lower mortality with similar costs) in this study, especially for higher-risk patients. Past studies have shown that hospitals with better nursing work environments provide better quality of care, but less is known about…
Manage physician preference cards to boost efficiency and patient safety
Surgeons often complain that their physician preference cards (PPCs) are not current, and keeping on top of the situation can be a struggle. Yet having accurate information on these cards greatly enhances both efficiency and patient safety, say surgical services leaders who have overhauled their systems. In this article, experts…
Dedication, determination help tame PPC beast
Even the most experienced OR leaders often view physician preference cards (PPCs) as a beast that acts out and demands attention at the most inconvenient times. Two organizations that have managed to tame the PPC beast shared their experiences with OR Manager. Updating cards saves more than $3.2 million Tresa…
High reliability: Excellent care every time
High reliability has now permeated the healthcare literature, but some clinicians are still unsure exactly what it means. A simple definition offered by Coleen Smith, MBA, RN, CPHQ, director of High Reliability Initiatives for the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, is “excellence in patient care for every patient, every…
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- Borescope inspections reveal widespread contamination in lumened surgical instruments
- Nursing workforce faces high turnover despite signs of recovery
- FDA issues early alerts for intravascular catheters
- Market volatility threatens hospitals’ liquidity as tariff-driven costs rise
- Study: CT scan radiation could drive 5% of future cancer cases
- New studies, surgical feats advance organ transplant medicine
- Commentary: Cyberattacks threaten financial survival of surgical practices
- Tariffs strain supply chains, split medical manufacturing community
- Study: Systemic gender bias embedded in surgical practice
- Literature review: Endoscope disinfection failures highlight need for stronger sterilization practices