In this issue . . .
February 2008 • Vol. 4 No. 2
Manager's Soapbox
Maximizing GPO Relationships
Judith Britton and Nancy Senne-Mikeska
Procuring products for the OR and perioperative services suites through group purchasing organizations (GPOs) can help managers zero in on the best price for the best product. But purchasing under contracts with nationally focused GPOs can bring a lot more than the shared leverage that GPOs’ volume purchasing power brings.
Periop management data-
make sure it’s actually useful
The introduction of information technology (IT) into their workplaces has empowered perioperative managers to compile and keep track of a wealth of operations data. But the question is, “How useful is that data?” As more and more IT-driven systems appear in the OR, it’s critical for managers to ensure that databases they feed are set up to make it easy to retrieve the data you actually need to ensure an efficient, safe working environment.
Regulatory crackdown likely after report
slams doctor-owned specialty hospitals
A regulatory crackdown on physician-owned specialty hospitals, which primarily perform cardiac, orthopedic or other surgical procedures, may be in the offing as the result of a federal Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General report raising concerns about the ability of such hospitals to manage patients’ medical emergencies.
New Jersey ASC owners get
some legal breathing room
Physician owners of New Jersey ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) got some temporary relief last month from a November 2007 court ruling that they were operating in violation of a state law prohibiting “self-referrals” of patients to healthcare facilities owned by the referring physicians.
Checklists help ID misinformation
that can yield wrong-site surgeries
Despite almost universal endorsement and knowledge of The Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong-Site, Wrong-Procedure, Wrong-Person Surgery™, avoidable surgical errors continue to occur in U.S. healthcare facilities. Research has focused on communications failures as the underlying cause of many errors, and two recent studies found that using preoperative checklists can help ward off such hazardous communication breakdowns.
HHS IG faults hospital’s cost-cutting pact
with cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists
Keeping a sharp eye on the cost of specific surgical and anesthesia supplies and devices, as well as diligence in minimizing product waste, are essential checks for perioperative managers to ensure efficiently run ORs. And enlisting the cooperation of surgeons and anesthesiologists is critical to success of such cost-cutting efforts. But care is in order because policies that directly reward surgeons and anesthesiologists financially for cost savings may run afoul of federal regulations aimed at insulating professional practice decisions from financial incentives they may be offered.
21% of Minn. hospitals, ASCs
report at least 1 adverse event
Adverse events ranging from wrong procedures and wrong-site surgeries to patient falls and pressure ulcers were reported between Oct. 6, 2006 and Oct. 6, 2007, by 21% of Minnesota public hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) subject to a state mandatory reporting law.
News briefing for perioperative leaders
A $2.1 trillion spending tab for U.S. health care in 2006 headlines this month’s news briefing for perioperative managers. Other stories include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent clearance of a fast blood test for MRSA, studies quantifying the value of surgical instrument counting and documenting a shortage of surgeons and other specialty physicians in the nation’s Emergency Departments and much more.
ASC news review
This month’s ASC News briefing includes an effort to allow small “critical-access” hospitals in rural areas to voluntarily report data on seven outpatient quality measures that larger facilities are submitting to CMS, a new New York state law requiring accreditation of office-based surgeries and a time-motion study of the effects in the workplace of implementing electronic prescribing in ambulatory care clinics.
Read more perioperatiave management news.