More than 2,600 hospitals in fiscal year 2015 are facing Medicare readmission penalties, to the tune of an estimated $428 million, a recent Kaiser Health News report indicates. Among these, 39 hospitals—including some specialty surgical hospitals, small community hospitals, and a major teaching facility—will lose the maximum 3% of their…

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More than 1,500 registrants from the perioperative nursing community representing 49 states and 10 countries gathered in Long Beach, California, in September for the 27th annual OR Manager Conference. Attendees chose from an education menu of preconference seminars, general sessions, and breakout sessions, as well as numerous company-sponsored CE programs.…

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If you skipped this year's OR Manager conference, you missed an opportunity to learn about the evolution of healthcare delivery and the changes you should be making at your facility. Improving the patient’s experience of care was an underlying theme. We’ve all heard about the shift from volume-based to value-based…

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Individual health insurance coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect a year ago. Whether that has helped or hindered patients is unclear. Similarly, the jury is still out on the ACA’s long-term effects for healthcare providers. A recent report from Moody's Investors Service paints a bleak…

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Projections made about a decade ago told us to expect that the RN workforce would peak at around 2.2 million in 2012 and would then begin to shrink as nurses reached retirement age. Instead, say the authors of a recent Health Affairs report, there were 2.7 million RNs working in…

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Increasing case volume, physician satisfaction, and patient safety are goals every OR leader strives to achieve. The 2014 OR Manager of the Year, Nancy Daughety, RN, has bragging rights to all three. Daughety is administrative director of perioperative services at St Francis Hospital, Inc, a 376-bed community hospital in Columbus,…

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OR leaders have always been committed to patient safety, but an increased focus on quality has them redoubling their efforts. With the recent initiatives linking patient satisfaction to reimbursement, it’s not surprising that OR leaders are emphasizing patient safety and satisfaction, as reflected in comments from the 24th annual OR…

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The OR Manager webinar series, now under the direction of Ellen Lord, MS, RN, CNOR, is an important resource for continuing education as well as best practices to optimize efficiency and performance. Webinars are presented twice a month. Attendees who complete a brief online posttest and evaluation satisfactorily may earn…

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Attending several professional meetings each year is a rewarding part of my job and a critical component of my ongoing education. As a non-clinician, I learn a lot from listening to healthcare professionals, and capturing some of what’s presented at these meetings is an attempt to keep readers abreast of…

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Keeping the OR trains running on time, keeping a lid on costs, and keeping team members’ behavior in check are a few of the hurdles in the path of every perioperative nurse leader each day. Another stressor that is probably not even on the radar but should be is lack…

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