Cardiac surgery is the next frontier for same-day surgery. The movement of cardiovascular care from hospitals to freestanding surgery centers is being driven by...

It's often obvious when you outgrow your current space. At one of my former hospitals, the surgical schedule extended way too late in the day, surgeons weren't happy, and patients and staff complained about delayed...

When our editorial team researched the long list of new and recently renovated ASCs and HOPDs, we were impressed by the many examples of healthcare design at its finest....

Healthcare professionals often take their cues from the hospitality industry when designing new facilities. They want patients to be happy with the care experience,...

Patients who go NPO in the hours leading up to their surgeries aren't physically prepared for the physical trauma they're about to endure. "Surgery is a major stress on the body," says Steven Bisch, MD,...

Staff who need to call a code blue during an emergent situation sometimes hesitate to ask for help. In our hospital, nurses are educated and encouraged to call a code as soon as the need arises. An educational program...

The two-inch red circle on the patient's sacrum was unmistakable. A PACU nurse noticed the deep tissue injury during a post-op assessment and called over to pre-op to see if one of her colleagues had documented...

Our facility's break room is very small, so we've posted a sign that says only six employees at a time can gather there during the pandemic. Numerous staff members are on break at once, though, so we spaced chairs...

Reprocessing techs in our hospital who prepare instrument sets for sterilization use a seven-point checklist to ensure trays have been properly assembled. The checklist helps techs ensure instrument sets are loaded properly,...

Late last month, my cellphone buzzed with a text from my mom. She had sent a picture of her "I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and said my dad got his, too. I was working on deadline, but paused, surprised by...

In the past tumultuous year as the pandemic raged across the country, outpatient facilities have been the subject of a renewed focus within the healthcare community...

If you want to roll out a patient warming protocol that requires your facility to invest time, resources money — and, of course, a change to the status quo — you need to give leadership a compelling reason why...

Test your knowledge of current best practices with this informative exam.

We have a multi-step protocol to complete for each knee, hip and shoulder replacement patient before the day of surgery. This protocol includes making pre-op calls to conduct a health assessment, an in-person visit...

Now's this for stressful? A surveyor from one of the main accrediting agencies knocked on our surgery center's door early one morning in October 2019. The surprise visit...

What prompted you to go architecture school after medical school? I double-majored in biology and art history, with a fine arts minor, so I've always had an interest in architecture. I just assumed...

"If you build it, they will come." That famous statement about building baseball fields in Iowa also applies to constructing new spine centers. With recent technological advances,...

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the entire country, altered our daily lives and brought once-thriving industries to their knees. And yet, our ASC has increased case volume by...

High-tech cleaning devices such as UV lights and hydrogen peroxide misting machines aren't new to surgery. Facilities have used these products for years. But the effects of...

Hetland ENT was overwhelmed by its volume of phone calls to and from patients each day. The Bismarck, N.D., surgery center tried an online patient portal, but only a small...