EASE app updates families on patients' progress during surgery
As the anesthesiologist places the mask on the little girl’s face, the circulating nurse snaps a photograph and sends it to her parents’ cell phone with a caption saying, “she is safely off to sleep.” The nurse continues to send photographs and videos of the girl’s heart procedure along with…
New curriculum aims to reduce hazards of energy devices in the OR
When it comes to patient safety in the OR, the risk of fire or other damage caused by surgical instruments is an area that deserves greater attention. Professional medical societies concerned about such risks have developed a multidisciplinary curriculum that addresses appropriate and safe use of energy devices in surgery…
Perceptive leadership fosters collaboration among hybrid OR staff
The expanded volume of interventional cardiology in recent years has played a major role in the growing prevalence of hybrid ORs. As a result, many perioperative services leaders have had to develop systems for managing hybrid ORs along with traditional ORs. “Management of hybrid ORs is really a collision of…
FDA issues Unique Device Identification final rule
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 24 published the final rule for its Unique Device Identification (UDI) system to provide a consistent way to identify medical devices throughout their distribution and use. “A UDI system for medical devices is an important step towards increasing patient safety, modernizing postmarket…
Stryker's Neptune recall raises stakes for compliance
Strict requirements needed to comply with a recall for the Neptune brand of roving suction devices are raising questions and concern for ORs whose facilities continue to use the devices. The recall of the Neptune Waste Management System from Stryker, used to collect and dispose of fluid waste, was initiated…
Could technology lend a hand in cleaning of ORs?
Manual cleaning is performed by humans, and thus will always be imperfect. Could technology lend a hand? Some hospitals and a few ORs are adopting an extra disinfection step—employing robot-like machines that can disinfect an entire room. The machines are meant to augment—not replace—manual cleaning. These technologies have some compelling…
A checkup for your OR's value analysis process
How healthy is your value analysis process? A strong program for evaluating products and new technology is essential to the cost-effective management of resources. Characteristics of a good value analysis program are offered by Barbara Strain, MA, past president of the Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals. She is director…
ORs could see benefits from FDA's UDI system
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…
RTLS yields new data for managing patient logistics
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…
Smartphones, tablets in the OR: With benefits come distractions
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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