Physicians Editor's Note In this study of surgical residents after implementation of the 80-hour workweek in 2003, researchers found a significant increase in operative variability, including an increase in the variability of total major cases between the resident completing the most and fewest cases per class. This may suggest a growing disparity…
Even the most experienced OR leaders often view physician preference cards (PPCs) as a beast that acts out and demands attention at the most inconvenient times. Two organizations that have managed to tame the PPC beast shared their experiences with OR Manager. Updating cards saves more than $3.2 million Tresa…
Editor's Note A Studer Group survey finds that nearly 90% of physicians have experienced burnout, and almost two-thirds say they are thinking about leaving the profession, the February 2 EHR Intelligence reports. Among the major causes of burnout cited were overcompensating for low staffing levels and the regulatory burdens of…
Editor's Note Referred to as the “July phenomenon,” the influx of new surgical residents and interns at the beginning of the academic year is assumed to be associated with poor outcomes. This study of nearly 1.5 million patients who had emergency general surgery either early (July-August) or late (September-June) in…
Editor's Note Incentivizing surgeons to standardize surgical supplies led to dramatic cost savings in this study. A shared-savings program that returned 50% of money saved on surgical supplies to the surgery division realized a total cost-savings of $893,865. A total of $446,932 was shared with 15 surgery divisions. Quality of…
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons on September 2 announced the launch of its Surgery Career Connection, a new career center that connects surgeons across all specialties and career stages with employers offering career opportunities. Surgery Career Connection is powered by YourMembership. Among the benefits of the career center:…
Editor's Note The risk of adverse outcomes in patients having elective daytime surgical procedures was similar whether the surgeon performed surgery the night before or not, this study finds. There were no significant differences in patient mortality, readmission, or complications when surgeons worked after midnight, compared to when surgeons did…
Editor's Note A central issue discussed at the US House Committee on Ways and Means on July 28 was the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act, HR 169, which is supported by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Currently, for CAHs to receive Medicare Part A reimbursement, physicians must certify…
Editor's Note The AmericanCollege of Surgeons calls the usefulness of surgeon rating systems released last week by two public interest group websites questionable. The groups use differing methodologies (ie, years of Medicare data reviewed, procedures studied, and rating scales used) to determine their rankings, and a patient visiting both sites…
Editor's Note Work-hour restrictions for surgical resident, revised nationally 4 years ago to protect patients against fatigue-related errors, have not had the desired effect of lowering postoperative complication rates, according to this new study. Researchers from the American College of Surgeons found no significant difference in surgical outcomes between 1…
