Safety of home discharge after total joint surgery
Editor's Note Patients who live alone can recover effectively and safely at home after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), finds this study presented March 14 at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in San Diego. Of 638 patients analyzed (364 THA,…
Automated harm trigger system IDs patients at risk
Editor's Note In this study, an automated harm trigger system developed by the Adventist Health System Patient Safety Organization (Altamonte Springs, Florida) enabled the identification of patients who may have been harmed or at risk for harm. Nurse reviewers analyzed electronic health records of current patients with positive triggers to…
Association between surgeon scorecard and OR costs
Editor's Note Providing surgeons with individualized cost feedback and surgical supply costs was associated with significantly reduced surgical supply costs, without negatively affecting patient outcomes in this study. The study involved 63 surgeons in an intervention group and 186 surgeons in a control group. Surgeons in the intervention group received…
Penn Patient Safety Authority reviews RSI events, guidelines
Editor's Note In this advisory, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority reviews retained surgical item (RSI) events in Pennsylvania hospitals and RSI guidelines from various organizations. Analysis of events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority from 2014 to 2015 reveals 112 RSIs that met the definitions of the National Quality…
Joint Commission: TST for Hand-off Communications helps reduce readmissions
Editor's Note The Joint Commission’s Targeted Solutions Tool (TST) for Hand-off Communications provides a framework for what the communication process between hospitals and skilled nursing facilities should be to reduce potential patient readmissions, the Joint Commission said in a March 15 news release. “The TST helps organizations: Facilitate examination of…
OR leader job analysis helps sort out roles, responsibilities
A new tool is available to help OR leaders both develop their careers and prepare their successors to take over when they leave. An OR manager job analysis, released in September 2016, provides an evidence-based approach to building the careers of OR leaders, both novice and experienced. “It really helps…
What does an OR manager do?
Here is a list of domains, with accompanying knowledge statements for the OR manager role, based on the job analysis conducted by Prometric, a test development and delivery company based in Baltimore. Examples or definitions for several knowledge statements appear in parentheses. Communication and relationship management -Negotiation techniques (win-win, building…
Hospital-academia partnerships steer new nurses to the OR
Traditionally, nursing students have had little exposure to the perioperative setting, creating a challenge for OR leaders seeking to build the future workforce. How can they spark interest in the OR, if students haven’t experienced it? One way is for hospitals to partner with schools of nursing. Two innovative programs…
Editorial
Led by the National Patient Safety Foundation, the event has been held for the past 15 years. Putting patient safety in the limelight once a year is fine, but for healthcare providers, patient safety awareness needs to be a daily priority. To reinforce that notion, the Joint Commission on March…
Conference keynote to highlight care coordination
Here’s a question to ponder: If a dozen oranges went up in price as fast as healthcare prices between 1945 and 2009, what would they have cost in 2009? It’s the kind of question you might expect from someone interested in both healthcare and business. David Chin, MD, MBA, likes…