Competency matrix modeled on ski trail difficulty validates staff skills at Vail center
Surgeon concerns about staff competency and high turnover of surgical technologists at Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC), Vail, Colorado, prompted the development of a staffing skills competency matrix. VVMC is a community hospital with 4 rooms in its main OR, 4 rooms in its adjoining surgery center, and 4 rooms…
Figure out future needs and goals before breaking ground on your new facility
Less than 2 years after the New England Baptist Outpatient Care Center was imagined, its doors opened in September 2013. The sparkling new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in the Boston suburb of Dedham, Massachusetts, isn’t far from the country’s oldest timber-framed house, the Fairbanks House, built in 1637—long before building…
ASCs part of the new face of healthcare
With fewer new ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) forming each year and more merging back into hospitals, it has become popular to describe the industry as “mature.” It’s not yet time for an obituary, however. Improved technology, bolstered by healthcare reform, is driving a transition to outpatient treatment, and, when it…
Rounding tool off to a good start in improving patient satisfaction
A mobile, web-based rounding tool is allowing the perioperative leadership team at Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC) in Vail, Colorado, to collect, analyze, and report on information gathered from surgeons, staff, and patients to improve quality of care and move toward high reliability. Software designed by MyRounding Solutions in Littleton,…
Editorial
Efforts to increase patient safety have been successful in some areas, but less so in others—notably, postoperative outcomes—according to a recent study. Researchers who analyzed Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System data for the period 2005 through 2011 found declines in adverse event rates for patients hospitalized because of acute myocardial…
Sleep apnea tied to higher risk of postoperative complications, greater use of hospital resources
Obstructive sleep apnea is a major clinical and economic challenge in the postoperative period, affecting up to one-fourth of patients undergoing elective surgical procedures. The prevalence among orthopedic patients having joint arthroplasty may be especially high because obesity is a widespread comorbidity in this patient population. Obesity is 1 of…
Tracking tool streamlines scheduling, enhances communication with surgeons' offices
Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend in Springfield, Oregon, began OR optimization efforts soon after moving to a new facility in August 2008. Because of the US economic downturn around that same time, the hospital launched several initiatives to make the most of available resources, including a Lean process to improve…
Improving instrument readiness cuts case delays, boosts surgeon satisfaction
Surgical case delays have been found to last an average of nearly 17 minutes. Not only do such delays make surgeons dissatisfied, they also reduce case volume and related revenues, and they may lead to additional time under anesthesia for patients. The root causes of instrument-based delays are seldom simple,…
Free Daily News
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