Safety Earlier this month, we wrote about a massive fire that damaged, forced patient evacuations and closed Lehigh Valley Health Network’s (LVHN) Lehigh Valley Hospital - Dickson City in Pennsylvania. LVHN parent Jefferson Health has provided an update on the status of the facility, announcing that it reopened the hospital, including…
For better or worse, negative perceptions and stories about artificial intelligence (AI) can become accepted truths among vast numbers of the general public. Reuters, one of the world’s most prominent and widely disseminated newsgathering services, spread some more bad vibes about AI with a massive report last week about perioperative…
Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital in Lakewood, Colo., has launched its Direct-to-Operating Room (Direct-to-OR) initiative, which allows caregivers to transport patients with penetrating injuries such as stabbings, shootings, or impalements directly from the ambulance bay or helipad to the OR, bypassing emergency department processes. The program is “designed to expedite lifesaving…
Taking a fresh look at your facility’s efforts to prevent surgical fires? Richard Parker, MBA, CHFM, CLSS-HC, FASHE, FACHE, associate director, physical environment and life safety at Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), last week wrote about the five key components of surgical fire prevention. The article, published by Healthcare…
A raging fire destroyed the orthopedics wing of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City (Pa.) Wednesday night, forcing the evacuation of 77 patients, including six in ICU, according to local PBS/NPR affiliate WVIA. The station reports that, thankfully, there were no injuries to patients, staff or firefighters. Dickson City Fire Chief Rich…
Retained surgical items (RSIs) remain among the most preventable yet persistently recurring surgical “never events.” Despite decades of implementing process checklists, counting protocols, and technology solutions, surgical items continue to be left inside patients across the country. The question “How do RSIs happen?” is no longer sufficient. Instead, we must…
At October’s 2025 OR Manager Conference, accreditation and regulatory compliance consultant John R. Rosing, MHA, LFACHE, vice president and principal at Patton Healthcare Consulting, advised perioperative leaders to be up to speed with the latest requirements in The Joint Commission's Accreditation 360: The New Standard. This update, released in June…
In any OR, a combustible combination of personalities and stressful situations can set off a chain of reactions that can at best lengthen surgeries or hurt feelings and at worst jeopardize patient safety and outcomes. As a board-certified neurosurgeon at Longstreet Clinic in Gainesville, Ga., Betsy Grunch, MD, FAANS, FACS,…
When it comes to treating chronic pain—or pain associated with surgery—clinicians are always looking for alternatives to opioids. “There are zero advantages to chronic opioid use,” says Earl Kilbride, MD, MHA, an orthopedic surgeon at the Austin Orthopedic Institute. While the US makes up about 4.4% of the global population,…
Pinpoint accuracy in surgical technique has advanced beyond what many ever thought possible. Unfortunately, such refinements have been slower to reach the perioperative business front. OR leaders often rely on vague metrics and educated guesses to guide their teams. Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) is changing that. When integrated with data…
