OR Business
Best practices lead to greater consistency in vendor credentialing
When OR Manager examined vendor credentialing in 2009, hospitals had a hodgepodge of requirements. OR managers and purchasing departments were making their first forays into third-party software for managing credentialing, and there was a crying need for standardization. Four years later, progress has been made in developing credentialing standards, and…
Successful vendor/OR partnership yields more than $1 million in savings
An innovative program at The University of Kansas Hospital (TUKH), Kansas City, for managing vendor partnerships has saved the hospital $1.9 million in just 8 months of operation. “We’ve found that pricing and inventory management requires key partnerships with suppliers,” says Brian Dolan, MHSA, CMRP, RHIA, CHDA, SSGB, director of…
OR business managers steadily gaining clout, financial rewards
Business managers have seen a rise in salaries and number of direct reports over the past 5 years, but their overall role remains consistent, according to the 23rd annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. More than a third (34%) of respondents have a business manager on their team. The average annual…
Business managers' skill sets strengthen return on investment
OR Business Performance is a series intended to help OR managers and directors improve the success of their business. Hospitals depend on surgical services to generate more than half their revenue and profit. Yet according to the latest OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, only one-third of hospitals employ an OR business…
Comprehensive dashboards paint a fuller picture of OR performance
OR Business Performance is a series intended to help OR managers and directors improve the success of their business. Data-rich dashboards are an effective way to communicate with surgeons and align them with OR goals, but many reporting strategies have not kept pace with changes in the surgery market.…
ASCs seek efficiencies to offset decline in reimbursement
About 70% of respondents to a nationwide survey of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) say they are trying to cut costs in reaction to changes brought about by healthcare reform. That’s the major finding of a nationwide survey of 359 administrators, directors, and office managers in ASCs, cancer centers, home health…
High labor expenses? Better staffing and scheduling can cut costs
OR Business Performance is a series intended to help OR managers and directors improve the success of their business. The OR labor budget usually takes a back seat to supplies and equipment. But labor costs can still create significant spending problems. Many hospital surgery departments use nursing full-time equivalents…
Editorial
Data on inpatient and outpatient hospital charges released in May and June by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have fueled the fire started in March with Steven Brill’s Time magazine cover story, “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us.” Brill cited sometimes staggering amounts charged for…
Collaborate with surgeons and vendors to control high-end supply costs
OR Business Performance is a series intended to help OR managers and directors improve the success of their business. Surgical supplies are a major component of OR expenses. In the July issue of OR Manager, we showed how controlling spending on low- and mid-priced supplies can reduce overall costs.…
Diligence in coding and charge capture will help prevent revenue loss
With the evolving nature of health care regulations, accurately capturing revenue can be a challenging process for all hospitals. At the OR Business Managers Workshop in April, key concepts about hospital billing, coding, and reimbursement were clarified by revenue expert Keith Siddel, JD, MBA, an attorney with HBL Concepts LLC,…
Free Daily News
- 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