Simulation can be an affordable tool for improving care
How can OR managers better prepare staff to handle crisis situations? How can they encourage teamwork? Increasingly, OR leaders are turning to simulation to answer those questions. OR leaders who think they can’t afford a high-fidelity manikin (one that talks and exhibits physiologic changes) and state-of-the-art simulation lab might…
Simulation lab a safe way to practice crisis management
Emergencies such as the one described above don’t happen frequently in the OR, but it is important to prepare for them, and simulation has emerged as an ideal educational tool. This scenario took place in a simulation lab, not a real OR, so the danger to the “patient” (manikin) consisted…
Dirty endoscopes top 2016 technology hazards list
OR Manager and ECRI Institute have joined in a collaboration to bring OR Manager readers periodic articles on topics such as medical technology management and procurement, risk management, and patient safety. ECRI Institute is an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care. Every year, hospitals…
FDA: Class I recall of Brainlab’s Cranial Image-Guided Surgery System
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 15 classified the recall of Brainlab’s Cranial Image-Guided Surgery (IGS) System as Class I, the most serious. The system is being recalled because of potential inaccuracies in the display by the navigation system compared to the patient’s anatomy. This could…
FDA issues draft guidance on UDI convenience kits
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 4 issued a draft guidance: “Unique Device Identification [UDI]: Convenience Kits—Draft Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff.” The document outlines the FDA’s interpretation that the term “convenience kit,” as defined by 21 CFR 801.3, applies solely to…
ECRI Institute releases 2016 Top 10 Hospital C-suite Watch List
Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on January 4 released its annual Top 10 list of important technology related issues that hospital and health system leaders need to pay close attention to this year. The list includes: Medical device cybersecurity (eg, hacking into pacemakers) Miniature leadless pacemakers Changing landscape of robotic…
ECRI Institute projects $80 billion spend on new drugs, devices
Editor's Note Annual spending on a group of new drug and device therapies may exceed $80 billion if they all make it to market, according to a new report by ECRI Institute. ECRI Institute analyzed the costs of 47 of 700 healthcare interventions with the potential for high impact that…
FDA: Class I recall of G5 Ventilators by Hamilton
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on November 13 identified the recall of Hamilton G5 Ventilators V2.00 and V2.31 as Class I, the most serious. The ventilator may stop working, without sounding an alarm, when the oxygen enrichment key is pressed to attach the mask to the patient. If…
Ultrasound-guided vs angiography-guided coronary stent implantation
Editor's Note In patients requiring long coronary stents, the use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided vs angiography-guided drug-eluting stent implantation resulted in a significantly lower rate (2.9% absolute reduction, 48% relative reduction) of major adverse cardiac events at 1 year, finds this study. These differences were mainly driven by the reduction…
ECRI Institute: Dirty endoscopes lead 2016 Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list
Editor's Note Inadequate cleaning of flexible endoscopes is first on the ECRI Institute’s annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list for 2016. Failure to effectively monitor postoperative patients for opioid-induced respiratory depression is third, and insufficient training of clinicians on OR technologies is fifth. ECRI Institute releases the Top 10…
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