As the current U.S. inflation rate approaches 10%, ambulatory surgery centers are already facing financial pressure from expenses for goods and services and staffing costs. So while CMS has proposed an increase...

The Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA) recently hosted a webinar during which three guest speakers discussed strategies to maintain individual positivity and enhance the culture of the workgroup. One of...

You’d be hard-pressed to find surgical leaders who aren’t directly impacted by the nationwide staffing crisis. Over the last five years, hiring qualified professionals to work in the surgical industry has become a difficult task....

In the main OR at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City, surgical instruments were consistently going missing, so a multidisciplinary team sought to pinpoint the source of the issue and correct it. The result...

Ensuring that reprocessed endoscopes are completely dry during storage remains an important patient safety topic in the world of endoscopy. Residual moisture in and around endoscopes promotes the growth...

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...

Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., recently opened the Pediatric Surgical Operating Complex, a $110 million, 24,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility where surgeons perform cardiothoracic, neurologic,...

Surgical teams take great care in cleaning surfaces, prepping the patient’s skin and making sure barrier protection is in place to reduce the risks of surgical site infections (SSIs). That might not be enough to address what's wafting in the air...

No industry has been untouched by the Great Resignation, with organizations of all sizes and kinds struggling to retain their best employees — forget finding new talent to fill open positions. The healthcare field has been particularly hard hit...

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...

In March, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) updated ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021, its standard for the cleaning and storing of flexible endoscopes. The new guidance document — which addresses...

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,...

When grateful patients in Central Maine return home from St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston with a successful surgical outcome, the thank you cards they pen aren’t to the finance department. But maybe they should be....

Coastal Orthopedics in West Bradenton, Fla., recently opened an 88,000-square-foot headquarters that houses a 25,000-square-foot, six-OR ASC on the second floor with 25 pre- and post-op bays and six extended stay rooms....

Change is difficult, especially in health care. Even if an idea sounds easy to implement, getting the effort off the ground and your team on board can be the hardest part. But this didn’t deter Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center...

The admittedly strong-armed tactic from orthopedic surgeon Randy G. Delcore, MD, to the anesthesiologists who practice at Cedar Orthopaedic Surgery Center came in 2013. “I essentially issued a mandate and said, ‘You’re not coming to my facility..."

Top leaders and frontline staff at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta are teaming up to find creative ways to provide the best experience for patients from underrepresented groups and partner with the local communities they serve. “We’re not checking boxes,...”

The surgical services team at Ascension St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood, Ind., is well into year three without a single surgical site infection (SSI). That impressive run has earned its staff the 2022 OR Excellence Award for Infection Prevention....

At the heart of Knoxville (Tenn.) Orthopaedic Surgery Center’s full-circle approach to top-quality patient care is a very simple philosophy: Take care of those who take care of the patients. “I feel like it’s my ultimate responsibility...

Surgical instruments that are of poor quality or improperly maintained can fail during procedures, an alarming occurrence that jeopardizes outcomes...