Editor's Note The implementation of Lean system redesigns was associated with a significant and sustained wait list reduction from 33.4 days to 12.0 days for patients waiting for elective general surgery in a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, this study finds. Along with the three-fold decrease in wait times from 2014…

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Editor's Note The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) on September 8 announced the launch of its new patient website that offers resources for individuals facing heart, lung, and esophageal surgery. The site allows patients and their families to research their conditions and gather information on treatment options and recovery.  …

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Editor's Note Children who played games on an Apple iPad before surgery had a reduction in their stress levels equal to the effect of taking a sedative, according to a study presented at the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Hong Kong. In addition, parental satisfaction and quality of anesthesia induction…

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Editor's Note This study found a marked decline from 1998 to 2013 in surgical (open and laparoscopic) common bile duct exploration (CBDE) for choledocholithiasis (ie, bile duct stones). At the same time, the rate of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) increased and is becoming the predominant treatment strategy. The percentage of…

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Editor's Note Implementation of a telephone postoperative clinic significantly improved utilization of surgeon and facility resources while maintaining patient outcomes, this study finds. Of 200 patients included in the study, 29 had in-person postoperative follow-up and 171 had telephone follow-up. There was no difference in rates of emergency department visits…

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Editor's Note Implementation of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) helped reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) from 8.6% to 1.1% at the Medical University of South Carolina hospital, AHRQ reports. The hospital infection prevention team focused on achieving zero CAUTIs by improving…

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Editor's Note Medicare’s value-based purchasing (VBP) program revealed superior performance associated with physician owned surgical hospitals in this study. Researchers analyzed 3,089 hospitals that included physician-owned surgical, University HealthSystem Consortium, US News & World Report Honor Roll, Kaiser Permanente, and Accountable Care Organization hospitals. Estimated mean total performance scores were…

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Editor's Note On July 27, PinnacleHealth (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) announced the opening of its Surgery Optimization Clinic to support orthopedic patients at high risk for surgical complications. Other high-risk surgical patient service lines will be added by the end of the year. The aim of the program is to improve patient…

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How do OR leaders enhance family members’ satisfaction with the communication they receive when their loved ones are in surgery? Thanks to advances in technology, many are turning to tools like mobile apps and text messaging. At Memorial Medical Center (MMC) in Springfield, Illinois, Lexanne Darwent, BSN, RN, helped implement…

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Editor's Note A surgical comanagement hospitalist program reduced complications, length of stay, 30-day readmissions, number of consultants, and cost of care in this study. There was no significant changed in patient satisfaction and the average savings was $2,642 to $4,303 per patient. This retrospective study by researchers from Stanford University…

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