No matter how long you actively warm your patients or when you opt to do it, one basic but crucial factor in the equation is the devices you use to do it in the first place. The many variables involved, not to mention the many options on the...

A lot of information is presented to patients during the pre-op visit, and it’s nearly impossible for them to retain everything they learn. However, one thing you don’t want to fall through the cracks is information on the risks...

When patients are screened for procedures at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, nurses ask if they’ve recently run out of food before they had money to buy more, or if they’ve been worried about that possibility....

Communication issues led to confusion for some Orange County Digestive Center patients who didn’t want the person who picked them up and drove them home to know the results of their procedure....

No provider wants their patients to feel nauseous in recovery, but the importance of preventing one of surgery’s most dreaded complications seems a bit higher when children are involved — especially because kids are twice as likely as...

Standardization is often the common denominator among successful total joints programs. Take Knoxville Orthopaedic Surgery Center (KOSC), which opened in December 2009 and has had a total joints service line...

I used to believe surgical facilities should operate just like the airline industry. Can you blame me? Flight crews rely on safety checklists, built-in redundancies and meticulous protocols to make sure planes take off...

Every surgical provider knows what a warm blanket can do for patient satisfaction. But why limit yourself to blankets? At Advanced CardioVascular Solutions in Oklahoma City, every patient who comes through its doors receives...

The Medical Play Distraction Therapy program at Shriners Children’s Lexington (SCL), Ky., doesn’t end when pediatric patients are discharged. Parents are instructed to contact the recreational therapist who worked with...

Interventional radiology (IR) is slowly finding its way into ASCs. IR physicians perform a wide variety of “pinhole surgeries” — minimally invasive procedures that leverage catheters, wires, needles and sheaths — using image guidance...

The movement of gynecology cases to same-day surgical spaces is being driven by physicians who want to perform procedures on carefully selected patients in comfortable and safe environments, according to...

The origin story of total shoulders moving to outpatient ORs begins with sports medicine surgeons, who performed complex rotator-cuff repairs in the same-day...

Total hip replacements, those life-changing surgeries that allow nearly immobile patients to enjoy a level of activity they thought was gone forever, are already some...

In 2019, my then 75-year-old mother fell down a steep flight of stairs while visiting friends at a New York City apartment. It was a violent trauma that left her with multiple...

With a targeted treatment plan in place, your patients won’t need to rely on complication-laden, potentially addictive opioids to recovery from painful and traumatic...

Pre-op anxiety in patients is a common medical concern that is often ignored. Reducing preoperative anxiety is a key indicator of postoperative outcomes. When a patient feels anxious, their hormone levels...

Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City has contributed $20,000 to Valley Regional Transit to expand its Rides2Wellness Program, which helps people get to their medical appointments by providing free transportation....

One of the best ways to fight back against the notion that high-volume procedures at busy facilities are the epitome of impersonal, assembly-line care is to add a personal touch whenever possible. Even the smallest efforts...

Any patient arriving on the day of their surgery is going to be anxious. That anxiety will only grow, and their satisfaction will decline, if their surgery is delayed because of inefficient room turnover times. Getting ORs ready for the next case...

How do you ensure patients will remember their post-op care instructions and push your patient experience scores from good to great? You do a deep dive and find out where you’re lagging,...