Perioperative services departments have been slow to adopt the black boxes used in the aviation industry, partly because it can take a large team of experts hours to analyze data collected by the box. However, the team behind a surgical black box is using artificial intelligence (AI) to significantly cut…

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Editor's Note This study by Johns Hopkins researchers finds that the spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bacteria that have high levels of resistance to most antibiotics could be reduced if only 25% of large healthcare facilities in a region used a patient registry. The researchers developed a computer simulation model…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on April 26 announced it is lowering the maximum civil penalty for healthcare providers, health plans, and business associates who violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), based on the level of culpability. A 2013 rule created four…

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Artificial intelligence (AI) may be coming to your OR sooner than you think. AI is already being used to identify areas needing quality improvement by analyzing surgical workflow, communication patterns, and errors that went unnoticed during a procedure. OR leaders need to understand AI and participate in its development and…

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission require healthcare facilities to have policies and protocols in place for emergency situations and to hold regular practice drills. With natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, or fires, often there is at least some warning—some amount of time to…

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Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to pop up in headlines nearly every day. With applications ranging from individual nutritional guidance to prediction of premature death, ever-evolving computer-based algorithms present intriguing possibilities for the future of healthcare. Depending on how proactive your facility is and how rich in resources, you may already…

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Compassion fatigue can come into play at any stage of nurses’ careers. Nursing is growing at a faster rate than other occupations, but it carries a high risk for burnout. Loss of job satisfaction, job-related distress, or perhaps exposure to too many traumatic events can threaten the ability of staff…

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Whatever your facility’s disaster management plan, it needs continual refinement to account for the differences between imagined and real scenarios. Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston hard on Saturday, August 26, 2017, is a case in point. The storm brought more than 60 inches of rain within a couple of days,…

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Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH) in Sarasota, Florida, is a Level 2 trauma center with 839 beds and more than 900 physicians. The 430 members of the surgical staff perform more than 24,300 inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures in the 34 operating suites each year. With this level of…

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Violence is a fact of life in healthcare settings. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that, on average, healthcare workers are four times as likely to be victimized as those in private industry. Most types of violent incidents involve patients or visitors acting out against staff, accounting for 93%…

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