Editor's Note Intraoperative adverse events (iAEs) occur often and have a significant negative impact on surgeons’ wellbeing, this study finds. Barriers to transparency include fear of litigation and absence of a well-defined reporting system. A survey was conducted of all surgeons at three major teaching hospitals connected with the Harvard…

Read More

An ambulatory surgery center (ASC) looking to expand its market may want to add new procedures, but only after careful consideration of resource investment versus ultimate benefit. In the first of a three-part series, OR Manager explores surgical specialties that appear to show promise for the outpatient setting. One of…

Read More

Editor's Note This meta-analysis found that the overall rate of attrition among general surgery residents was 18%, and that the most common causes of attrition were uncontrollable lifestyle and choosing to join another specialty. Of 19,821 general surgery residents involved in the analysis, attrition was significantly higher for females compared…

Read More

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a major cause of morbidity in surgical patients, leading to increased length of stay and healthcare costs. No single intervention has demonstrated efficacy in reducing SSIs. When SSIs rose to a rate of 16.3% in 2013 at St Elizabeth Boardman Hospital in Boardman, Ohio, perioperative…

Read More

Increasing costs and shrinking margins have continued to pressure business managers and senior hospital leadership to rethink strategies for raising surgeons’ awareness of product and nonlabor costs within the OR. Often providers are asked to cut costs but are unaware of the actual costs of the products they use. In…

Read More

Editor's Note Giving monthly cost feedback scorecards to surgeons was associated with significantly reduced surgical supply costs, without negatively affecting patient outcomes in this study. Of 249 surgeons representing 10 specialties, 63 were in the intervention group and 186 were in the control group. Surgeons in the intervention group each…

Read More

Editor's Note Engaging colon cancer patients in a prehabilitation program 4 weeks before surgery modified exercise behaviors and improved physical function, which improved postoperative outcomes, finds this study. Researchers randomized 116 patients to either a prehabilitation program (57 patients) or a control group (59 patients). After 4 weeks, compared with…

Read More

Editor's Note Hospital and surgeon payments for routine general and orthopedic surgical procedures vary greatly, this study finds. Hospital payments averaged $12,744 for general surgery procedures and $22,386 for orthopedic procedures. Orthopedic surgeon reimbursement on average was twice as high as general surgeon payments ($2,349 vs $1,191). Postoperative complications resulted…

Read More

Editor's Note Overlapping surgical procedures are safe and provide the same outcomes for patients as non-overlapping procedures, this study finds. The analysis of 10,614 overlapping surgical procedures performed at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, found no difference in the rates of postoperative complications or deaths within a month after surgery,…

Read More

Editor's Note Surgical residents who perceived negative effects of The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s duty hour policies on patient safety were more likely to violate duty hour policies, this study finds. Of 4,554 residents in 184 programs analyzed: 25.3% felt the current duty hour policies negatively affected patient…

Read More