Same-Day Surgery – November 1, 2005
November 1, 2005
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Wrong-site protocol is more than one year old, but problems mount
A wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-person universal protocol has been required by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations since July 2004 and supported by multiple national organizations, but adverse events continue. -
New payment system to be proposed for ambulatory surgery centers
Instead of waiting for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a new reimbursement system for outpatient surgery, ambulatory surgery associations have taken the initiative and developed legislation proposing their own ideas for a revamped system. -
Start with simple steps to cut procedure costs
El Camino Surgery Center in Mountain View, CA, always has scored high in all the categories of the study on Knee Arthroscopy with Meniscectomy benchmark study by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Cares Institute for Quality Improvement. -
After hurricane, facilities reinstate staff, schedules
In this second part of a two-part series on surviving disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we discuss how to overcome challenges involving patients, staff, curfews, and military/police checkpoints. -
What to do about supplies, equipment post-disaster
When your facility survives a disaster that includes flooding, you might have problems with your equipment even if water didnt touch your devices, says Jim Keller, vice president of health technology evaluation and safety at ECRI, a nonprofit health services research agency in Plymouth Meeting, PA. -
Physicians’ relief efforts choked by bureaucracy
In Baton Rouge, LA, physicians and surgeons swarmed from all parts of the country to offer hurricane relief, only to encounter bureaucratic nightmares that left them sitting around for several 10-hour days and, in many cases, returning home in frustration. -
Outpatient surgery goes wherever the patients are
After Hurricane Katrina, some medical relief workers found themselves performing outpatient surgery procedures on a gym mat or in an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer that had been converted to mobile hospital. -
Same-Day Surgery Manager: Can your facility shine? 14 ways to stand out
Last month, I was fairly verbose in talking about warning signs of outpatient surgery departments and centers that could be headed for trouble. While my predictors were unscientific, they were the observations of a person whose job it is to look for such predictability. -
Wage index values deferred for 2006
For the 2006 fiscal year (FY), Medicare payment rates and wage index values for services provided in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) will remain unchanged. -
Centene pays $9.5 million for outpatient surgery fees
St. Louis-based Centene Corp., the parent of Managed Health Services Insurance Corp., Wisconsins largest Medicaid HMO, has agreed to pay Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2003 over fees for outpatient surgery. -
2005 Salary Survey Results: Outpatient surgery employees want honest, communicative, and responsive leaders
Three of the top five issues identified by more than 102,000 health care employees surveyed by Press Ganey, a South Bend, IN-based satisfaction survey company, related to the effectiveness of communication between employees and senior leadership.