Effect of early discharge after surgery on costs
Editor's Note Early postoperative discharge after major inpatient surgery was associated with lower total surgical episode payments in this study. In this analysis of 639,943 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), or total hip replacement, payments were significantly lower in hospitals with lowest vs highest length of…
FDA: Abbott recalls coronary catheters
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on May 16 announced the recall by Abbott of specific lots of three coronary dilation and balloon catheters: NC Trek RX Coronary Dilation Catheter NC Traveler Coronary Dilation Catheter NC Tenku RX PTCA Balloon Catheter. The affected lots were manufactured between January 2015…
Warmer weather linked to increase in SSIs
Editor's Note Temperatures above 90o F were associated with a 28.9% increase in odds for surgical site infections (SSIs) compared to temperatures less than 40o F in this study. Analyzing data on millions of patients in the National Inpatient Sample database from 1998 to 2011, researchers found that SSIs were seasonal, with…
AHRQ: Surgical procedures performed in hospital outpatient vs inpatient settings
Editor's Note In 2014, 58% of the 17.2 million hospital-based surgical procedures took place in outpatient settings, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The report, which helps to quantify ongoing shifts to more outpatient surgical procedures, found that the most common outpatient procedures…
Effect of adverse events on postop outcomes
Editor's Note Intraoperative adverse events are independently associated with increased postoperative mortality, morbidity, and prolonged length of stay (LOS), this study finds. Of 9,288 abdominal surgical procedures analyzed, 183 had intraoperative adverse events. Most consisted of bowel (44%) or vessel (29%) injuries, which were addressed intraoperatively (92%). Multivariate analysis showed…
New staffing schedule unclogs PACU bottleneck
Perioperative services is a key driver for financial performance, and efficient use of space and staffing is vital in the current era of declining reimbursement. A bottleneck in any of the three phases of surgery—pre-, intra-, and postoperative—can result in long delays as well as surgeon, anesthesiologist, and staff anxiety…
Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2017
Healthcare is striving to become an industry of high-reliability organizations, and part of being a high-reliability industry means staying vigilant and identifying problems proactively. ECRI Institute’s annual Top 10 list helps organizations identify looming patient safety challenges and offers suggestions and resources for addressing them. ECRI Institute relied on event…
Consider a sterilization subject matter expert to increase compliance
Compliance with sterilization and disinfection standards is critical to patient safety, yet Joint Commission surveyors continue to cite healthcare facilities for noncompliance with high-level disinfection (HLD) and sterilization processes during accreditation surveys. Organizations with HLD and/or sterilization breaches during a survey may receive an immediate threat to life or adverse…
Effect of mandatory change from skull to bouffant caps on SSIs
Editor's Note A mandatory change from surgical skull caps to bouffant caps in the OR did not reduce surgical site infections (SSIs), this study finds. In this analysis of 15,000 class I (clean) surgical procedures performed 13 months before and 13 months after surgical skull caps were banned at a…
AHRQ releases toolkit to improve patient safety in ASCs
Editor's Note The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on May 3 announced the release of a new toolkit to help ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) make care safer for their patients. The Toolkit to Improve Safety in Ambulatory Surgery Centers incorporates the core concepts of AHRQ’s Comprehensive Unit-based Safety…
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