Tag: Patient Safety

12-hour call shifts improve patient outcomes, lower costs

Editor's Note An acute-care surgery model that caps surgeon call shifts at 12 hours instead of 24 hours for covering surgical emergencies has led to shorter hospital stays, lower infection rates, and lower overall costs for patients with acute appendicitis, finds this study presented October 30 at the American College…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 31, 2019
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AI outperforms clinicians’ judgment in triaging postop patients to ICU

Editor's Note Artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of a machine-learned algorithm correctly triaged the vast majority of postoperative patients to the ICU, in this pilot study presented October 29 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2019 in San Francisco. The algorithm included 87 clinical variables and 15…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 30, 2019
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Mayo Clinic Care Network reduces hospital stays with ERPs

Editor's Note An Enhanced Recovery Pathway (ERP) created by the Mayo Clinic’s colorectal surgery service a decade ago has now been adopted by other surgical services in seven medical centers that are members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the October 15 Harvard Business Review reports. The ability of each…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 24, 2019
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Laminated posters, badge buddies on NPSGs available from Joint Commission

Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on October 23 that laminated posters and badge buddies on the 2020 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) for hospitals are now available for purchase. Areas covered by the NPSGs include: Patient identification Infection prevention Patient safety risks Safe surgery. The posters and badge buddies…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 24, 2019
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ECRI Institute: Diagnostic testing, medication events pose biggest safety risks to ambulatory care patients

Editor's Note New research from the ECRI Institute finds that diagnostic tests and medication events are the most frequent safety risks patients face in ambulatory care. ECRI Institute’s “Deep Dive: Safe Ambulatory Care, Strategies for Patient Safety & Risk Reduction” identifies solutions for five types of safety challenges in ambulatory…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 23, 2019
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CDC updates 1998 guideline for infection control in the healthcare workplace

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on October 18 released an update to its “Guideline for infection control in healthcare personnel, 1998.” The updated document, “Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel: Infrastructure and Routine Practices for Occupational Infection Prevention and Control Services (2019),” applies to a broader range…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 22, 2019
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The role of the OR in ERAS pathway implementation

The US has been on a journey for the last several years to reduce the cost of healthcare. In 2017, the percent of gross domestic product attributed to healthcare goods and services was at 17.9%. This is expected to reach as much as 19.4% by the year 2027.1 Factors contributing…

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By: OR Manager
October 21, 2019
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Decreased postop opioid prescribing not linked to patient’s satisfaction with surgeon

Editor's Note This study found that opioid prescribing can be decreased by more than 50% and not adversely affect patients’ satisfaction scores with their surgeons. Of 996 patients surveyed on their satisfaction with their surgeons before (period A) and after (period B) an educational intervention that resulted in decreased opioid…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 17, 2019
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Association between heart failure and postop mortality in ambulatory surgery patients

Editor's Note In this study, heart failure with or without symptoms was associated with an increased risk of postoperative mortality at 90-days and complications at 30-days in ambulatory surgery patients. In this analysis of 355,121 patients having noncardiac ambulatory surgical procedures, 90-day mortality was 2% in patients with heart failure…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 17, 2019
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Identifying postop complications using EHR data and machine learning

Editor's Note Using machine learning on electronic health record (EHR) postoperative data linked to the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) outcomes data, researchers developed a model with 163 predictors of postoperative complications at the University of Colorado Hospital. Of 6,840 patients analyzed with the…

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By: Judy Mathias
October 10, 2019
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