Your People and Teams 
Perioperative leaders navigate some of the most challenging dynamics in healthcare. The precision required in the OR coupled with multidisciplinary teams and diverse personalities often lead to missteps or misunderstandings that can quickly brew into conflict. Effective communication is essential, particularly when addressing behavior, managing team dynamics, or delivering difficult…
The idea that “you can take the nurse out of the OR, but you can’t take the OR out of the nurse” is not new. And yet, a recent panel discussion among emerging nurse leaders indicates this old adage rings truer today than ever. Speaking at the 2024 OR Manager…
Takeaways • Interdepartmental collaboration and standardized communication are essential to quickly identifying and addressing supply chain challenges. • Just-in-time inventory strategies have gained traction since the pandemic. Successful strategies involve leveraging data, rethinking preference card management, and shifting to a demand-planning model. • Resiliency is essential to cope with the…
CEO Karen Franco, MBA, spent years struggling to fill surgical technologist (ST) positions at Pacific Surgery Center in Poulsbo, Washington, due to a lack of viable training options. Nearly 1,400 miles away, Deb Braly, RN, a nurse educator in the surgery department of San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in…
“Surgeons are the only people trained to provide surgery—life-saving care," says Carrie Zlatos, chief of legislative and political affairs at the American College of Surgeons (ACS). "They are an essential element of a community-based healthcare system. Regardless of where you live, everyone should have access to full quality surgical care.”…
Perioperative leaders are entering a time of uncertainty after 2024 proved to be transformative for inpatient and outpatient surgical care. Last year saw important updates from The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that emphasized improvements alongside ongoing challenges in safety, workforce shortages, reimbursement, and…
Takeaways • Documentation and coding procedures are rife with opportunity for cost savings. • Passed in 2022, the No Surprises Act is designed to protect insured patients from surprise billing for emergency services from out-of-network providers. However, the result has been nearly 40% cuts in reimbursements to anesthesiologists. • OR…
Eliminating physical distance as a barrier to communication makes it easier for caretakers to help not only their patients, but also one another. This is the promise of virtual care technology, which offers system-wide potential for providers facing growing demand for high-quality, cost-effective care. For perioperative leaders specifically, advantages of…
When a speaker at a recent conference asked if anyone had achieved a first-case on-time start (FCOTS) rate above 90%, Jay Parker, BSN, RN, could have been the only one in the room with his hand up. However, Parker was not inclined to call attention to himself. As director of…
Think of that colleague you would not miss if they called out sick. You may be short-staffed, but you know you are going to have a better shift without their chronic complaining, drama, and lack of productivity sucking all the energy and joy out of the department. Tolerated for too…
