Editor’s Note Pregnancy complications—including life-threatening sepsis—surged in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021, according to a ProPublica analysis of seven years’ worth of state hospital data. In a February 20 report, the outlet details how sepsis rates for women hospitalized after second-trimester pregnancy loss rose by more than…

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A wave of policy and regulatory changes is shaking up the healthcare industry—among many other markets. Like the COVID-19 pandemic greatly sped up the proliferation of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) by bringing traditional hospital operations to a standstill, ASCs are again on the poise of another boom. Medical innovation abounds…

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Editor's Note As executive director of the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), Michael Schiller, CMRP, gets regular insight into strategies employed by healthcare organizations, suppliers, technology leaders and frontline staff—insight he was happy to share with OR business Management Conference attendees in a February 11 presentation.…

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Editor's Note Jasmine Hampton-Nicholson MSN, RN, CNOR, learned the value of a value analysis team (VAT) the hard way. “I thought that we had a very solid process for our value analysis team,” said the VP of perioperative services at Temple University Health System in a presentation at 2025 OR…

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Editor's Note Restructuring inventory management has slashed costs and enhanced efficiency at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), presenters revealed at the OR Business Management Conference, touting an initial savings estimate of $200 million. Presented by Paul Flaherty, CRCST, Senior Manager Customer Service,   Joshua Gomez, MPH, Business Operations Manager, and Steve Spring,…

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Takeaways • Interdepartmental collaboration and standardized communication are essential to quickly identifying and addressing supply chain challenges. • Just-in-time inventory strategies have gained traction since the pandemic. Successful strategies involve leveraging data, rethinking preference card management, and shifting to a demand-planning model. • Resiliency is essential to cope with the…

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Immersed in texts, apps, QR codes, and streaming videos, we live in a digital world. And yet, healthcare has been slow to catch up. Most nurses and other staff still hand out packets of paper and relay information verbally, whether in person or over the phone. It does not have…

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Editor's Note An EHR-integrated closed-loop clinical decision support system (CDSS) significantly reduced unnecessary preoperative testing, improved patient safety, and significantly reduced costs across two hospitals in Madrid, Spain. As detailed in a study published January 3 in npj digital medicine, this system demonstrates the potential of automated guidelines to optimize…

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Editor's Note Although the role of artificial intelligence is still evolving, early applications show significant potential to address challenges with burnout, staffing shortages, and high patient-to-nurse ratios, according to a January 10 article in Medscape. Offering a broad overview of the state of AI in nursing, complete with expert testimony…

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Editor's Note Healthcare data inaccuracies occur at rates as high as 26.9% in hospitals, with related inefficiencies costing providers up to $20 million annually, HealthLeaders reported January 8. According to the article, these inaccuracies stem from factors such as data entry mistakes, outdated information, inconsistent data standards, and system integration…

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