Vanderbilt's anesthesia QI program reduces adverse postoperative events
The anesthesia quality improvement program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville can claim a variety of successes, notably less postoperative hypo- and hyper-glycemia and fewer wound infections. When anesthesia providers noticed they weren’t monitoring blood glucose in patients with diabetes as frequently as their own goals specified, they put…
Joint Commission recognizes this year’s top performing hospitals
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 17 released its annual report on America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety, which summarizes data on 49 accountability measures reported by more than 3,300 accredited hospitals. For the first time, acute care hospitals were required to meet program criteria in six sets—an increase…
Appropriate use criteria reduces nonacute, inappropriate PCIs
Editor's Note Since publication of the Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization in 2009, the number of nonacute percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) has declined significantly (89,704 vs 59,375). The proportion of nonacute PCIs classified as inappropriate has also declined (26.2% vs 13.3%), although hospital-level variation persists. These findings indicate that…
52 ACS NSQIP hospitals achieve meritorious outcomes
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) has recognized 52 of 517 participating hospitals for achieving meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2014. Recognized hospitals are deemed “meritorious” for their composite quality scores in eight surgical care outcome areas. Hospitals are required…
ASA, Premier extend Perioperative Surgical Home learning collaborative
Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and Premier, Inc, will extend their national learning collaborative to improve inpatient and outpatient care for surgical patients for an additional 2 years. ASA chose Premier in 2014 to develop a learning collaborative to implement the Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model of…
Lean makes a clean sweep of the OR
Reducing room turnover time is a goal in many surgical services departments, and refining the cleaning process is one path to success. Implementing a Lean process improvement at our hospital helped us not only meet but exceed our targets for room cleanliness and cleaning time. A 73% average rate of…
Zones establish structure and routine for OR setup
Learning to circulate can be overwhelming and intimidating for new nurses. They may learn two or three different ways to set up a room, on two or three different days, from two or three different preceptors. Having a consistent, systematic way to set up an OR can help relieve the…
Patients' functional recovery with ERP vs traditional pathway
Editor's Note An enhanced recovery pathway (ERP) allowed liver surgery patients to return to normal function sooner than a traditional pathway in this study. Patients on the ERP reported lower immediate postoperative pain scores, fewer complications, and decreased length of stay than those on the traditional pathway. ERP patients also…
Variation in patient-reported outcomes after surgery
Editor's Note Patient factors explain a large proportion of hospital variation in postoperative patient-reported outcomes, underscoring the importance of risk adjustment, this study finds. Some variation across hospitals remained unexplained, however, suggesting that patient-reported outcomes may be a viable indicator of hospital performance, the authors conclude. There is a growing…
Achieving quality improvement depends on the local culture
The key to sustaining quality outcomes is promoting confidence and engagement of surgical teams, says Clifford Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, director of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care, at the American College of Surgeons in Chicago. Dr Ko gave the keynote…
Free Daily News
- 3D modeling advances cardiovascular surgery at Boston Children's Hospital
- Report: Healthcare ransomware compromises millions of patient records, costs billions in downtime
- First ACS cancer report highlights neoadjuvant therapy expansion, improvements
- Hospitals continue to grapple with IV fluid shortage
- Proposed tariffs, stricter immigration policies threaten healthcare workforce, supply chain
- Hospital addresses barriers to patient rest, recovery
- Study: Psilocybin therapy reduces depression in frontline clinicians
- Exclusive articles preview OR Business Management Conference sessions
- Study: Surgeries improve survival in young BRCA-positive breast cancer patients
- Study: Advanced recovery room care could reduce long-term postoperative mortality