Same-Day Surgery 2007-11-01

Even patients who seem healthy can die unexpectedly — How will you respond?

A 27-year-old former college football player came in for an elective procedure to relieve hip pain. According to media reports, he hoped the surgery would clear a path for him to audition for a professional football team.

Half of hospitals don't bill for 'never events'

Many health care providers are formally adopting policies that state they will not bill patients or insurers for the worst type of mistakes known as "never events" because they should never happen. One example is intraoperative or immediately postoperative death in an ASA Class I patient.

Do you have to tell The Joint Commission?

When a patient death occurs in outpatient surgery, you do have a choice about whether you report the occurrence to The Joint Commission.

Life-threatening situations can occur in your program

There are some situations that come up repeatedly in ambulatory surgery settings that can be life threatening, warns Anne Dean Schilling, RN, BSN, consultant with The ADA Group, a DeLand, FL-based consulting firm specializing in ambulatory surgical development and regulatory compliance.

Same-Day Surgery Manager: Cell phones and other things that annoy me

I had the pleasure of touring several facilities since last month. Three surgery centers and two hospital surgical departments stand out.

Surgeons reluctant to trade suture sharps

Surgeons have long been reluctant to use blunt suture needles, but new messages from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) may get their attention. Those organizations are actively promoting the use of blunt suture needles.

Use data to push sharps safety in the OR

Although blunt suture needles are rare in the operating room, other safer practices have begun to take hold.

Expect the unexpected with media coverage

One of the benefits of sponsoring community events or open houses is increasing awareness of your facility's name in a positive light. While most outpatient surgery program managers are pleased with direct contact with business leaders, referring physicians, potential patients, and community members, media coverage increases the audience that learns about the program.

Outbreak leads to 70% absentee rate

Imagine a communitywide outbreak so pervasive that employees fell ill at work, 40% called in sick, and even the chief nursing executive pitched in to work as a staff nurse.

2007 Salary Survey Results: Tackle nursing shortage by attracting, keeping senior nurses

With almost 49% of the respondents to the 2007 Same-Day Surgery Salary Survey reporting that their staff sizes have increased during the past year, the challenge of recruiting new employees and retaining experienced employees grows and is exacerbated by the nursing shortage and the aging of the work force.

Same-Day Surgery – November 1, 2007

November 1, 2007