OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Impact on ASCs of economic conditions ASCs that have experienced financial difficulties due to current economic conditions Financial difficulties these ASCs have experienced: Financial challenges continue to buffet ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), according to the 21st annual OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. Almost…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 How well hospitals perform on SCIP measures will affect part of their Medicare payment starting in late 2012. Yet a new study is the fourth to find that the SCIP infection measures aren’t correlated with surgical site infection (SSI) rates. In the…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Shortened hours for preoperative fasting in otherwise healthy patients with no comorbidities have been in place for 12 years. They are left essentially unchanged in a new update by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) of its practice guidelines for preoperative fasting.…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Christine Halowell, MS, RN, CNOR For this year’s OR Manager of the Year, Christine Halowell, MS, RN, CNOR, perioperative nursing had her at hello. She gravitated to the OR the first time she had an opportunity to follow a surgical patient during…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 What might be most effective in preventing wrong surgery? A new analysis from Pennsylvania identifies best practice principles that might have prevented 431 wrong procedures reported in the state since 2004. The 21 principles were published in 2009 by the Pennsylvania Patient…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 What might be most effective in preventing wrong surgery? A new analysis from Pennsylvania identifies best practice principles that might have prevented 431 wrong procedures reported in the state since 2004. The 21 principles were published in 2009 by the Pennsylvania Patient…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Twenty-one years ago, when we launched the OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, one of our goals was to ask core questions every year so we could track trends. In some areas, the contrast between then and now is striking. In others, we’ve seen…

Read More

OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 10; October 2011 Stiff economic headwinds are challenging ambulatory surgery centers (ASC). Among them are stubbornly high unemployment, higher copays and deductibles, and fewer independent physicians. After strong growth, the number of new ASCs opening is nearly zero for 2011. Brian Mathis, vice president of…

Read More