Unexpected benefits can arise from unexpected circumstances. Relatively new nurse leaders at two different facilities have found this to be true, for different reasons. Both have faced sudden changes that made their jobs more difficult but also gave them opportunities for growth. When the director of ambulatory care at Brigham…

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A global pandemic did not stop the proliferation of joint ventures between ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospitals in 2020. The trend continues in 2021, as federal regulators expand on the types of procedures that can be performed in the ambulatory setting. Hospitals are recognizing the need for a surgery…

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Editor's Note Opioids prescribed after outpatient surgery are going down, but still do not meet expert recommendations, a new study from Epic Health Research Network finds. The researchers examined the median number of opioid tablets prescribed after outpatient surgical procedures between January 2017 and December 2020. For four orthopedic procedures,…

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Editor's Note Urban hospitals bounced back faster than rural hospitals from surgical caseload decreases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a new study released May 13 by Caresyntax, a Boston-based developer of surgical intelligence and automation technologies. The study, “The State of Surgery: An Analysis of Surgical Trends During the…

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Editor's Note ECRI and the Association for Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AHVAP) have partnered on a new white paper outlining key supply chain lessons and risk mitigation strategies learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the lessons learned is the critical role physicians play in the value analysis process and that…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, finds that disparities in access to orthopedic care persisted as orthopedic surgical patients were shifted to telemedicine during COVID-19. The researchers analyzed nearly 2,000 orthopedic patients receiving care via telemedicine from March to May…

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Editor's Note This review study, led by researchers at the Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, Torrance, finds a significant negative effect of COVID-19 on general surgery residents’ operative experience. This retrospective review of 1,358 resident case logs from 16 general surgery programs in the US finds a 33.5%…

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Editor's Note This study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, finds that intraoperative deaths negatively affect surgical team members, with a considerable number experiencing feelings of anger and depression. Of 120 OR team members completing a survey, 82 (68.3%) said they had prior experience with intraoperative deaths, referencing more than…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 20, identified the recall of Medtronic’s Bio-Console 560 Extracorporeal Blood Pumping Console as Class I, the most serious. The Console is used during heart surgery to pump and return blood to a patient during cardiopulmonary bypass. The recall was initiated…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on April 12, identified the recall of Medtronic’s Evera, Viva, Brava, Claria, Amplia, Compia, and Visia implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of an unexpected and rapid…

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