The Business of Surgery 
When making decisions about technology and equipment, there is a tendency to focus on immediate productivity increases—or perhaps, practical aspects such as carrying out an implementation or training staff. But here is another major issue: how to maintain OR equipment once the warranty runs out. This is more complex than…
Over my 40-year career—after starting at the bedside in surgical intensive care, moving to emergency medicine, and then to perioperative services—I have been fortunate to progress into executive leadership positions in academic medical center health systems and community hospitals, consult with a top global advisory firm, and now work in…
The use of electrosurgical instrumentation is common in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, while these instruments are common, processing them is complex and time-consuming. Insulated electrosurgical instrumentation can cause patient harm, including an electrical burn, if there is a breach in the insulation. These instruments are designed to have an…
Takeaways Many OR managers said they were overdue for a survey by The Joint Commission because of the pandemic. The Joint Commission is said to be 3,000 surveys behind. More checklists are being used by surveyors, which are available in The Joint Commission’s Perspectives and EC News newsletters. New in…
Takeaways Natural language processing (NLP) may be helpful for predicting surgical outcomes and can facilitate more robust research. NLP comes with challenges that include potential for bias, costs, technology and terminology barriers, and the need to adapt to new ways of thinking. Before purchasing products that use NLP, OR leaders…
Recent analysis provided by the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR) indicates that US hospitals could save up to $2.28 billion a year by maximizing the use of reprocessed single-use medical devices. According to the report, in 2020, US hospitals saved $372 million just by reprocessing single-use medical devices, as…
Two major challenges that perioperative leaders are facing today are labor and supply costs. These two areas also happen to be the largest and second largest expense categories at most hospitals, making the challenges even more pronounced. What actions can leaders put in place to ensure that clinical staff are…
In 2020, the World Health Organization focused on promoting nurses to fill the anticipated need for 9 million nurses and midwives to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly amplified this pre-existing need. Additionally, the “Great Resignation” has impacted technology and healthcare disproportionally, and the University of…
Many healthcare professionals are aware of single-use device reprocessing and its benefits. According to the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors, the savings generated by such programs can strengthen a facility’s financial sustainability and help provide a path for more responsible environmental stewardship. Sometimes, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) may experience situations…
Navigating contracts with anesthesia when anesthesiology services are suffering from workforce shortages and high costs is often tricky and complex. The biggest mistake ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) make is that they do not know what they want when entering a contract negotiation with an anesthesia provider. As a result, ASCs…
