An effective handoff helps ensure care transitions are safe and efficient, but achieving the ideal handoff can be challenging. Part 1 of this two-part series provided an overview of the role of handoffs in the perioperative setting (OR Manager, January 2020, 22-23, 25). This article offers best practices for successful…

Read More

At Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System in Richmond, implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) incorporates principles of Lean thinking, a management methodology that emphasizes “…maximize[ing] customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources,” according to the Lean Enterprise Institute.1 Several…

Read More

Of the approximately 57 million surgical procedures performed annually in the US, it is estimated that hospital inpatient procedures (overnight admissions) account for less than 20% of cases. Many procedures once performed in hospital outpatient surgery departments (HOPDs) have moved to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) over the past 15 years,…

Read More

Starting the first cases of the day on time is key for maintaining the OR schedule. A delay in first case on-time starts (FCOTS) can lead to less OR utilization, greater facility costs, and dissatisfaction among physicians, OR staff, and patients. It’s a problem in many surgical suites, but when…

Read More

Editor's Note In this study, specialty certification was associated with greater professional identity in ICU nurses and higher perceptions of knowledge of and value in evidence-based practices, whereas education level was not. Of 268 respondents from six hospitals and 12 adult ICUs in an integrated health system, 71% had a…

Read More

Editor's Note Higher levels of nursing education and more certified nurses improved the number of patient falls in this study. Using data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators from 2010 to 2016 from medical centers in Central and Southern Illinois, researchers found that with every 1-unit increase in…

Read More

Editor's Note Researchers at NYU Langone Health combined advanced optical imaging with an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to produce accurate, real-time intraoperative diagnosis of brain tumors in this study. Compared with the accuracy of pathologists’ interpretation of conventional histologic images, the results for both methods were comparable. The AI-based diagnosis…

Read More

Editor's Note Johnson & Johnson’s Depuy Synthes and Israel-based Zebra Medical Vision have partnered to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms for use in preoperative orthopedic surgical planning, the January 2 BioWorld reports. The algorithms would enable the creation of 3D models from x-ray images so that radiation risks and costs…

Read More

Editor's Note In this first-year analysis of a data capture system called the OR Black Box, frequent intraoperative errors, events, variation in surgeons’ technical skills, and a high amount of environmental distractions were identified. In 132 patients having elective laparoscopic general surgery: auditory distractions occurred a median of 138 times…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on December 30 announced a public workshop on the “Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence [AI] in Radiological Imaging, which will take place February 25-26, 2020, at the Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. The workshop will include discussions on…

Read More