Editor's Note The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAHC) announced on November 2 that it has developed a new Orthopaedic Certification program for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). After an ASC achieves overall accreditation, it can acquire the Orthopaedic Certification to demonstrate excellence in the specialty of orthopaedics by meeting…
Editor's Note In this multi-state study examining the relationship between nurse-reported safety culture and the patient experience, researchers found that modifiable aspects of a hospital’s culture can influence the achievement of high HCAHPS scores in nursing and global domains, which directly impact hospital reimbursement. Three safety culture domains were related…
Credentialing of physicians and other independent practitioners is facing increased scrutiny from surveyors, professional associations and, in some cases, the public—not necessarily because of compliance failures but because healthcare legislation and technology improvements have made the process a conversation topic. Thus it may be a good time to review the…
When OR Manager examined vendor credentialing in 2009, hospitals had a hodgepodge of requirements. OR managers and purchasing departments were making their first forays into third-party software for managing credentialing, and there was a crying need for standardization. Four years later, progress has been made in developing credentialing standards, and…
Who assists at surgery in your OR? If not physicians, most commonly they are RN first assistants (RNFAs) and physician assistants, OR Manager subscribers report in a new survey. Only 15% of respondents say they do not use nonphysicians as assistants. Not surprisingly, more community hospitals (89%) use nonphysicians in…
Would you like to be on 60 Minutes and answer the question as to why the supplier who had TB was allowed in the OR?" asks Tom Hughes, MBA, executive director for Strategic Marketplace Initiative (SMI), a nonprofit consortium of providers and suppliers from the healthcare supply chain. "Let's head…