The Business of Surgery The new year is just around the corner, and it will bring new challenges for OR leaders as well as fresh opportunities to improve clinical, financial, and operational performance. The typical surgery department is a “target-rich environment”: low utilization, long turnover times, inefficient charge capture, poor documentation, high supply costs,…
Over the past year, job satisfaction of OR leaders as well as staff and physician engagement have all eroded, according to the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. Although more than two-thirds (67%) of respondents rate their current jobs or positions favorably, that is down from the 77% seen in 2020…
Even as vaccination rates rise, COVID-19 continues its grip on the healthcare system and nurses are feeling the consequences, including staffing challenges that have prompted a renewed focus on retention. Scars left by the pandemic will complicate retention efforts. “The pandemic has made things much worse, not only for the…
Mary Anne Douglas, MS, RN, CNOR, the 2021 OR Manager of the Year, has a daily routine: she spends about 15 to 20 minutes every morning catching up on pandemic- and healthcare-related news that might help her stay dynamic and innovative in her field. Evidence of her inspired work is…
Telehealth services grew exponentially in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall telehealth utilization for office visits and outpatient care was 78 times higher in April 2020 than in February 2020, according to a McKinsey & Company July 2021 report. Since then, telehealth utilization has stabilized at levels that…
Perioperative services leaders have their hands full with a range of pressing issues, from the return of elective case cancellations to new struggles with staff turnover. However, an even bigger problem is flying under the radar for many hospitals—impending changes in the market for anesthesiology services. Several factors are coming…
Consistency is the word that comes to mind when reviewing results from the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) reported that salary, satisfaction, and the number of employees supervised were comparable to metrics reported in 2020. The good news is that…
Responses to the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey indicate that OR leaders continue to face significant challenges as a result of COVID-19. The survey results come at a time when the buffeting waves of the pandemic are receding for some leaders, leaving them on the shoreline of a post-pandemic world.…
The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic run deep in the nursing profession. As one respondent to the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey noted: “[The pandemic has] caused healthcare workers to rethink the reason they went into this profession. Also the fact that we could die doing our jobs.” Part of…
Staff turnover and open positions have increased in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) during the past year, according to the 2021 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey, indicating the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. About half (49%) of ASC leaders reported increased RN turnover (more than double the 24% in 2020), and…
