Same-Day Surgery – February 1, 2016
February 1, 2016
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Saving Money with Surgical First Assistants
Increasingly, outpatient surgeons are adding surgical first assistants as a tool to shorten their procedure times and add more cases.
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Want to cut supply costs? Tell surgeons how they compare with their peers
The neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and otolaryngology – head and neck surgery departments at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco had a 4% decrease in median surgical supply costs in six months through a price transparency initiative aimed at surgeons.
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Are concurrent surgeries a good tool to save time and money? Experts express caution
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has been the focus of controversy over the safety of concurrent surgeries and whether patients have a right to know when surgeons are dividing their attention. One patient safety leader says that the practice is not necessarily improper but should be monitored by management.
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In ambulatory surgery programs, money saved equals money earned
Some ambulatory surgery managers have a hard time seeing that money saved is money earned. Many hospitals, surgery centers, and surgeons’ offices focus so much effort on increasing revenue and not enough on controlling their expenses. Can and should you do both?
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Tip on easy way to reduce overtime
Your staffing costs might be keeping you up at night, but here is one simple tip that can save you significant money: Change the schedule of your pay period from Monday through Friday to Tuesday through Monday.
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Art installed, does double duty as decoration and morale booster
How would you like to spend money once, but get more for your buck when you use it for two purposes? One gastroenterology physicians group achieved that goal by decorating the office with art that also motivates employees.
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Free benchmarking information available for ambulatory surgery
You don’t have to go digging through mountains of data to find benchmarking information. As part of our cost-saving issue, Same-Day Surgery offers free statistics from the ASC Quality Collaboration.
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Free translator application could be a cost-saving tool
There is a free medical translation iOS app named MediBabble that potentially can avoid the use of third-party translators.
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Save money on infection control resources
As part of Same-Day Surgery’s special cost-saving issue, AHC Media, SDS publisher, is offering a one-time savings on three AHC Media products.
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Resources for Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative
An estimated 200 to 650 surgical fires occur annually in, on, or around a patient who is undergoing a medical or surgical procedure in the United States, according to ECRI Institute. To combat this issue, The Joint Commission has partnered with the Food and Drug Administration, the Council for Surgical & Perioperative Safety, and others in the Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative.
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Free resources for healthcare worker safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has an online resource to help healthcare leaders protect their employees from getting hurt when lifting patients, during exposure to chemicals, and when being exposed to other common hazards of working in healthcare.
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ASCs: Appeal non-compliance with quality reporting
Ambulatory surgery centers subject to a reduction in Medicare outpatient payments in calendar year 2016 due to non-compliance with the ASC quality reporting program may appeal by submitting a reconsideration request by March 17, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA), which credits the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services with this information.
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Safety culture is critical in improving surgical results
To achieve better results for surgical patients, healthcare facilities tend to focus on technical issues such as surgeons’ skills and OR equipment. However, a non-technical factor, the so-called “safety culture,” might be equally important in delivering high-quality patient care, investigators report in a study published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in advance of print publication.
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Hospitals to settle kyphoplasty allegations
Thirty-two hospitals will pay the United States more than $28 million to settle allegations that the facilities submitted false claims to Medicare for minimally-invasive kyphoplasty procedures.