What preoperative tests does your facility require for a healthy 40-year-old having a knee arthroscopy? What about a healthy 82-year-old having an elective procedure? Do these patients need testing at all? A good deal of testing is performed without clinical indications, studies have found. Researchers at the University of Texas…
A float position that combines the duties of a surgical technologist (ST) and a central service (CS) technician creates closer ties between the OR and CS departments and improved morale in CS for a 400-bed community hospital. “These have been independent workforces, but they are highly related,” says Brian Whorley,…
I have heard the following statement from OR personnel: “We use rigid sterilization containers and run a 270-275ºF (132-135ºC) prevacuum steam sterilization process in our OR. So we no longer use IUSS.” Is that an IUSS cycle? IUSS, or immediate-use steam sterilization, was formerly known as flash sterilization. This article…
Since the early days of aviation, pilots have used checklists before, during, and after each flight. Cooks follow recipes. Builders don’t build without team meetings and signoffs at every step. Health care professionals, however, only recently began to adopt checklists. Often, the excuse has been that medicine is an art,…
Ten elements of safer surgery. Second in a series. Much of the effort to ensure correct-site surgery focuses on preoperative verification. But scheduling is where it all begins. Capturing complete and accurate information when the case is booked is key to preventing errors down the line. Scheduling flaws are…
Perioperative managers and staffs are collecting data on a growing list of metrics on surgical quality—antibiotic prophylaxis, venous thromboembolism prevention, normothermia, and more. Now these and other metrics are coming into play as big companies like Walmart, Lowe’s, and Pepsico seek the best value for their insured employees, especially those…
Do you know who your competitors for surgical volume are going to be? It may not be the hospital or surgery center down the street or even across town. Your competitor could be in the next state or even across the country, at least for some types of surgery. Big…
Surgeons in the US leave a surgical item such as a sponge or a towel in a patient 39 times a week, perform a wrong procedure 20 times a week, and operate on the wrong body site 20 times a week, a new study estimates. The analysis is thought to…