Your OR could see real benefits from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed unique device identification (UDI) system. But will your systems be ready to capture, record, and retrieve UDI information? Comments on the FDA’s UDI proposed rule are due by November 7, 2012. The proposal was published July…

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A patient arrives for surgery. As soon as she checks in, she receives a wristband with a small locator tag that monitors her progress as she moves through the surgical process. Behind the scenes, the tag is signaling the surgical department’s real-time locating system (RTLS), which sends notices to OR…

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Use of personal mobile devices is pervasive in surgery departments. As in the rest of life, they bring benefits but also risks, OR Manager found in an online survey. An overwhelming majority of respondents—86%—say they believe personal use of mobile devices in the OR sometimes distracts providers from patient care.…

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A 20-year-old nursing student, Emily, was excited to be on her pediatrics rotation and taking care of Tommy, a 3-year-old leukemia patient. One day, when Tommy’s mom was out of the room, Emily asked Tommy if she could take his picture. He readily agreed. When she got home, Emily excitedly…

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Nurses texting between—or even during—cases. Anesthesia providers playing games on their cell phones. A surgeon answering calls during surgery using his Bluetooth device. Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have introduced a brand of constant communication—and a management challenge. Banning the devices isn’t the answer. Instead, health care needs to…

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Capnography—is it the standard of care for patients having moderate sedation? Should capnographic monitoring be added for procedures performed under moderate sedation in areas like the preop holding area, GI endoscopy unit, and cath lab? The issue is generating discussion following an update in the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)…

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Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) recently opened a new outpatient surgical suite in the Boston suburb of Danvers and will open a new 28-OR suite on its main Boston campus in 2011. Both suites employ video integration. Here's a look at the projects. 'Building for the Third Century' A new 530,000…

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In the first of this package of articles, an equipment planner offers advice on planning for OR video integration. In addition to these expert tips, the articles include: Page 17: An introduction to the new ORs at Massachusetts General Hospital Page 19: Video: What's here? What's coming? Page 21: Sharing…

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Leaders and project teams from 2 teaching hospitals with OR video integration shared lessons learned during their projects. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston recently opened an outpatient surgical suite and will open a new 28-OR suite on its main campus in 2011. The University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB), opened…

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Video integration expert Keith Mignault looks at technology that's here now and what's on the horizon. High definition: Displays High-definition (HD) is available in most surgical scope systems and routing systems. HD has several levels, and they are not the same. For example, HD room cameras and surgical light cameras…

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