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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Editor's Note Machine learning can be used to improve surgical risk prediction compared to traditional risk calculators, this study from Singapore finds. The traditional Combined Assessment of Risk Encountered in Surgery and the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status models were compared with machine learning models in the prediction of…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on April 1 announced the 11 US healthcare organizations that received its 2019 Healthcare Supply Chain Achievement Award. The winners demonstrated excellence in overall spend management in their supply chain processes, and include: Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA Cooperative Services…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on March 20 announced that time is running out for organizations to submit applications for the 2019 Pioneers in Quality Proven Practices Collection. Applications must be submitted online by April 5. Among topics of interest: Demonstrating improvements in clinical performance or outcomes using electronic clinical…

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Editor's Note The US government claimed that digitization of healthcare records would improve the quality and value of healthcare; however, 10 years after legislation fast-tracked the move to electronic healthcare records (EHRs), even the architects of the effort agree that the $36 billion investment has not delivered as expected, the…

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Editor's Note The Cleveland Clinic has launched a new Center for Clinical Artificial Intelligence, which will focus on applying machine learning to healthcare diagnostics, predictive analytics, and treatment planning, the March 13 Health IT Analytics reports. As part of the Cleveland Clinic Enterprise Analytics division, the new center will analyze…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on February 27 that in support of organizations adopting electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs), it is accepting applications from accredited hospitals and health systems for the “2019 Pioneers in Quality Proven Practices Collection.” The organizations’ success stories can be used as learning tools to…

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Editor's Note Making a simple change to the electronic system used by physicians to order urine tests can cut by 45% the number of bacterial cultures ordered without compromising the identification of patients who need treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs), this study finds. In this analysis of 18,954 patients…

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Interest in data analytics, artificial intelligence, technology, and innovation has skyrocketed with rapid advances in systems and devices designed to improve patient care. When it comes to data analytics, asking the right questions is key to finding answers that will enhance efficiency and patient safety, according to David Wyatt, PhD,…

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After transitioning from a paper-based data and operations management system to one that uses relational database software, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (LHMC) in Burlington, Massachusetts, saved more than $1 million in product purchases in 2017. The surgical value analysis committee (VAC) evaluated 150 product requests and managed the conversion…

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