OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 12; December 2011 An analysis of 12 orthopedic and cardiac surgery categories by Premier finds 323 hospitals losing $1.82 billion annually because of Medicare payment shortfalls. Medicare reimbursement rates, lack of outcomes evidence, and costs of physician preference items (PPIs) are the main reasons. Hospitals…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Over half of teaching hospitals (52%) and larger surgical departments with 10 or more ORs (56%) now have OR business managers, according to the 2011 OR Manager Salary/Career survey. The position has become increasingly common over the past decade to meet the…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 The Christiana SurgiCenter, a 7-OR ambulatory surgery center (ASC) was losing volume. Although its ORs were staffed 8 hours a day, surgeons were saying they couldn’t get their cases scheduled. The problem turned out to be the block schedule. It was like…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 The message coming out of Washington is clear: Do more with less. Under Medicare’s hospital inpatient value-based purchasing (VBP) program launched July 1, 2011, DRG payments will be tied to performance on quality and patient satisfaction metrics. This is part of the…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 A new model for performing regional peripheral nerve blocks in the preoperative holding area with RN assistance has been a big win for Stony Brook University Medical Center Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) in Stony Brook, New York. The model has allowed orthopedic…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Quantity of Evidence Base (Low) The evidence base consists of a single controlled study of spinal fusion that compared the accuracy of pedicle screw placement in a patient group that had two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) intraoperative imaging using the O-arm System…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 FDA collaborates to prevent surgical fires The Food and Drug Administration and 16 partner organizations have launched an initiative to: increase awareness of factors contributing to surgical fires disseminate tools for preventing surgical fires promote surgical fire risk reduction practices. Tools include…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 Would receiving a single payment for procedures like total hip and knee replacement bring hospitals and surgeons into closer alignment? Would care be delivered in a more coordinated manner with higher quality and greater cost-effectiveness? It’s the way more Medicare reimbursement may…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 In this age of data and measurement, we may not think of compassionate care as something that can be measured. It’s an intangible yet critical aspect of care and healing. With the intense focus on austerity, tight reimbursement, and managing costs, there’s…

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OR Manager; Vol. 27 No. 11; November 2011 • NOVEMBER 2011 Editor’s Note OR leaders are striving to make evidence-based decisions about new technology. OR Manager, Inc, and ECRI Institute have joined in a collaboration to bring quarterly supplements with summaries of the Institute’s Emerging Technology Evidence Reports to OR…

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