Editor's Note A new report from the National Institutes of Health, Radiological Society of North America, American College of Radiology, and The Academy, provides a roadmap for translational research on artificial intelligence (AI) in medical imaging. The report summarizes key priorities: creating structured AI use cases that define and highlight…
Editor's Note Hospitals that perform better on measures to prevent postoperative complications also have better performance on measures of profitability, this study finds. Improved patient safety performance was associated with higher net patient revenue for five of seven Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) measures, including starting and stopping preventive antibiotics…
Editor's Note Researchers have developed an online app that patients and surgeons can use to guide preoperative planning and provide predictive data for how a patient’s ventral hernia repair will turn out. The basis of the app is a tool named the “Outcomes Reporting App for CLinical and Patient Engagement”…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum (NQF) on March 27 named the recipients of the 2018 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. The Awards recognize innovative approaches to improve patient safety and quality of care. The winners are: Brent C. James, MD, MStat, clinical professor,…
Editor's Note The increased use of tourniquets, blood transfusions, and reduced time to surgical treatment (ie, within 1 hour) were the main factors that reduced mortality 44.2% during military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, this study finds. From October 2001 through December 2017, survival increase three-fold among the most critically…
Attendees at the annual OR Manager Conference have enjoyed the opportunity to ask experienced OR leaders questions about difficult managerial and clinical issues. The popularity of these “Ask Me Anything” sessions reflects the hunger for knowledge about how things are handled in ORs around the country, and they will be…
Contaminated surgical instruments made ECRI Institute’s 2019 annual top 10 list of health technology hazards, coming in at number five: “Mishandling flexible endoscopes after disinfection can lead to patient infections.” Number two on the list in 2018 was “Endoscope reprocessing failures continue to expose patients to infection risk.” It’s not…
Several never events at The Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA) in Aurora, Colorado, over a 1-year period prompted leaders there to launch patient safety first (PSF) initiatives. Part 1 of this series discussed how these initiatives were identified and implemented, and the importance of evidence-based communication tools (OR Manager, March…
Solid teamwork and a commitment to high-quality patient care are the hallmarks of a successful healthcare facility. But egos sometimes get in the way, and competition among surgeons in the orthopedic service line at St Louis-based SSM Health Care was impeding progress. The surgeons were affiliated with three independent groups,…
Reducing preventable complications is a high priority, especially in light of readmission penalties. A recent data analysis by Premier, Inc, has identified 86 high-impact potential inpatient complications (PICs) associated with increased inpatient mortality, costs, and length of stay (LOS). In their study of 530 inpatient facilities, Premier, a healthcare performance…