Peer review inspires high performance from providers
Peer review is a hot topic in the quality arena as many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) strive to create meaningful and sustainable evaluation of their providers. “As a surveyor, I can tell you peer review trips everybody up,” says Ann Geier, MS, RN, CNOR, CASC, chief nursing officer of Surgical…
Nurse-run telephone triage service for after-hour calls by neurosurgery patients
Editor's Note Clinical Advice Service (CAS), a nurse-run telephone triage service for after-hour calls, developed at the Stanford University School of Medicine, provides well-coordinated care to neurosurgery patients while reducing physician workload, this study finds. Between July 2016 and June 2017, CAS nurses received 1,021 after-hours calls from neurosurgery patients.…
FDA clears new, faster CBC test
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 6 cleared a new complete blood cell count (CBC) test that can be run in more healthcare settings and offers faster results for patients and providers. The FDA granted premarket clearance and a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA)…
Study: No advantages to robotic-assisted nephrectomy
Editor's Note Robotic-assisted nephrectomy is more expensive and takes longer than conventional laparoscopic nephrectomy and confers no additional benefits, this study finds. The proportion of robotic-assisted nephrectomies increased from 1.5% in 2003 to 27% in 2015. Of 23,753 patients analyzed, no significant differences were found in major postoperative complications between…
Improving readability of discharge instructions linked to fewer follow-up phone calls
Editor's Note Making discharge instructions easier to read resulted in fewer phone calls from traumatic injury patients after discharge, finds this study presented October 25 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego. A total of 1,006 patients were included in the study, 493 in…
Nonoperative treatment of appendicitis linked to higher death rate
Editor's Note Twice as many patients with appendicitis are being treated without surgery compared to 20 years ago; however, nonoperative management is associated with a higher death rate, finds this study presented October 26 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego. A total of 477,680…
Study: Cloth skull caps more effective than bouffant disposable caps in preventing airborne contamination
Editor's Note Surgeon’s cloth skull caps that expose small amounts of the ears and hair are not inferior to bouffant disposable hats that cover those features, finds this study presented October 25 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego and published online October 26 in…
Standardized ambulatory surgery protocol reduces postop pain, ED visits
Editor's Note Standardizing clinical processes for outpatient hernia repairs reduced postoperative pain and unplanned returns to the emergency department (ED), finds this study presented October 23 at the American College of Surgeons 2017 Clinical Congress in San Diego. Researchers developed a standardized eight-step protocol that incorporated best practices and enhanced…
ACS NSQIP recognizes 66 hospitals for meritorious outcomes
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) on October 18 recognized 66 of 680 hospitals participating in the adult program for achieving meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2016. ACS NSQIP hospitals are required to track outcomes for inpatient and outpatient…
ACS NSQIP pilot identifies geriatric–specific risk factors that affect surgical outcomes
Editor's Note A new pilot study from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) finds that adding geriatric-specific risk factors to traditional risk factors could significantly improve the ability of surgeons to predict poor surgical outcomes in older patients. The study involved 36,399 older surgical…
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