My hospital's sterile processing department is a constant buzz of activity. We manage 2,000 instrument sets and 47 techs work around the clock to reprocess more than 300...

Instead of going through the relative inconvenience of driving to in-person appointments three weeks after undergoing joint replacement surgery, more than 90%...

My hospital's sterile processing department is a constant buzz of activity. We manage 2,000 instrument sets and 47 techs work around the clock to reprocess more than 300 trays — from basic laparoscopy equipment to complex orthopedic instrumentation...

The pandemic has increased the importance of properly disinfecting ORs between cases, and facilities have maintained safe spaces for surgery with rigorous manual...

At my former hospital, a patient expressed concern about sticker residue on the outside of the plastic binder that held their paper chart and wondered aloud about the overall cleanliness of the facility. A nurse quickly attempted...

When post-op infections occurred among patients who underwent colon and gynecology procedures at University of Wisconsin (UW) Health, clinical leaders...

Exorbitant healthcare costs in America are a driving force in our troubled economy. Attempts to save money in this arena by public officials usually involve cutting services to Medicare recipients. I think there's...

Great ideas for your OR

Daniel K. Guy, MD, FAAOS, discusses the continuing migration of procedures to outpatient settings, challenges facing the specialty, exciting “reality” devices, the opioid crisis and why diverse patients need to see themselves in their orthopods.

Cataract surgery used to be a straightforward procedure. In a matter of minutes, surgeons eliminated a patient's blurred or clouded vision by replacing the eye's natural...

We place ID and allergy bands on the ankles of cataract patients to improve our visualization of the vital information during safety time outs. Instead of pulling back covers and drapes to locate the bands on patients' wrists,...

By now you’ve probably heard about the plastic surgeon who decided to make an appearance in traffic court on Zoom … during surgery! The YouTube clip of the hearing immediately went viral. Have you seen it?...

After our state halted elective procedures last spring, returning to surgery and assuring our patients that the center functioned in the safest possible manner took a lot of planning — and no small amount of innovation...

Last December, I was part of a committee at AORN that organized a food drive to benefit low-income families in Southwest Denver. We partnered with the principal of a local middle school, who recorded...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder affecting approximately one in four adults. It's also often undiagnosed — 90% of people with OSA don't know they have it — and undertreated. Failure to appropriately...

WIn the midst of the pandemic, we looked for a way to safely maximize the number of staff members who could hang out together during breaks and lunch. We found portable sneeze guards on Amazon — they cost less...

If you're considering prefilled syringes for your facility, a little perspective goes a long way. It doesn't make sense to do an apples-to-apples cost comparison of prepackaged...

Statistically striking finding emerges from the largest collaborative surgical study ever performed.

If you're running a successful outpatient total joint program and want to increase case volumes, the future is bright. Last year, CMS began paying for total knees performed in...

During appointments in our eye clinic, staff document the music preferences of patients in their charts. On the day of surgery, pre-op nurses refer to the charts — or ask patients about their favorite artists and songs...