Editor's Note In consultation with clinical experts and in response to government guidance that hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) postpone elective surgical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) released a statement March 18 on how and when facilities should proceed with cases that should…

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Planning for volume growth and adopting best business practices for the perioperative environment were overarching themes at the 2020 OR Business Management Conference (ORBMC) in late January. Leading healthcare industry clinicians and experts offered fresh insights into competing in the burgeoning outpatient surgery market and persuading stakeholders to switch to…

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Over the last 5 years, the perioperative surgical home (PSH) model has attracted increasing interest from OR directors, anesthesiologists, and surgeons. This team-based, patient-centered approach coordinates all phases of surgical care, from preoperative assessment through intraoperative care and postdischarge recovery. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, PSH initiatives have…

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More than half of respondents to a recent OR Manager reader survey put cost-saving initiatives at the top of their list of important topics, and cost reduction is an ongoing challenge for many OR managers. Leaders at Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVH), based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, took a creative approach…

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Healthcare technology can be a great thing, but nurses at Abington—Jefferson Health, in Abington, Pennsylvania, have discovered that sometimes stepping back from it is the best way to make progress. Going low-tech was the key that unlocked patient flow gridlock that had plagued the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). Before 2017,…

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Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System in Richmond has been achieved through project and change management tools that transform the current state to the desired future state. To hardwire ERAS protocols in the OR as well as the ambulatory and acute care…

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Editor's Note Metrics derived from smartphone accelerometer data can capture differences in postoperative physical recovery in surgical patients, this study finds. In this analysis of 62 patients, smartphone accelerometer data showed decreases in daily exertional activity in 17 who experienced a postoperative event (eg, complication, reoperation) up to 6 weeks…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced February 19 that the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth has been awarded the first Primary Heart Attack Center (PHAC) certification by the Joint Commission and American Heart Association. The certification standardizes and improves coordinated systems of care for identification, assessment, monitoring,…

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Editor's Note The implementation of an aviation-style computerized surgical safety checklist displayed on a large, centrally located screen and operated by the anesthesia provider improved checklist performance in this study. A total of 671 cases were observed before and 547 cases after implementation of the computerized checklist system. The proportion…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 5 announced that a new performance improvement (PI) Accelerate PI dashboard is now available for accredited hospitals. It is posted in the “Resources and Tools” section of the Joint Commission Connect extranet site. The dashboard, which is intended to be a springboard for…

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