It was shortly after 2 am on Sunday, June 12. Ambulances, trucks, and cars started arriving at Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) loaded with shooting victims from a terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub. Because ORMC was just a couple of blocks from the nightclub, first responders loaded multiple victims…

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When audits revealed areas of deficit in the sterile processing departments (SPDs) of the Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, leaders pulled together a team to help implement a quality improvement plan. By analyzing and standardizing their processes, creating auditing tools, and educating staff, they significantly increased quality scores throughout…

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Editor's Note Improving processes for ordering, transporting, and storing blood at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, resulted in $2 million in savings and a 30% reduction in blood utilization in a study presented as a poster presentation at the 2016 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program…

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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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Editor's Note A program at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, to improve orthopedic surgery residents’ communication skills with older adults is paying off, according to a new study presented at the Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors meeting on June 24 in Seattle. A total of 64 residents…

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Editor's Note Surgical skill in laparoscopic gastric bypass does not predict outcomes for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, this study finds. Surgeons with skill ratings in the top, middle, and bottom quartiles for laparoscopic gastric bypass had similar rates of complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (top 5.7%, Middle 6.4%, bottom 5.5%). In…

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Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists announced June 22 that the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is participating in the development of the Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model of care. The expected benefits include enhanced clinical quality, better patient experience, lower complication rates and readmissions, reduce length of…

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Editor's Note Significant variation exists in mortality across hospitals for colon cancer surgery, this study finds. The analysis included 3,025 patients who had colon surgery at 19 low-mortality (1,006) and 30 high-mortality (2,019) hospitals. Researchers found a wide difference in mortality between high-mortality and low-mortality hospitals (9.3% vs 2.4%). Compared with…

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Editor's Note Compared with type of procedure, differences between surgeons account for a small part of OR time variability, and the effect of differences between anesthesiologists is negligible, this study finds. Differences between surgeons accounted for 2.9% of variability in OR time, and differences between anesthesiologists accounted for 0.1%.  …

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Editor's Note Implementation of a forced-completion electronically mediated time out to minimize the rate of wrong surgery is feasible, but its effect on wrong surgery is unclear, finds this study. Researchers created an electronic system using intraoperative electronic documentation to present a time-out checklist on large in-room displays. Time out…

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