All
RSSArticles
-
Sponges retained in patients during surgery are reduced by 93% in study
The results of a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgery (JACS) show an adjunct technology for the detection and prevention of retained surgical sponges (RSS) reduced the incidence of RSS by 93%. RSS are expensive in terms of X-rays, OR time, reduced reimbursement for hospitals, and potential liability.
-
Tools allow for accurate estimates: Patients get the ‘whole story’
Staff at NorthBay Healthcare in Fairfield, CA, use a newly implemented patient payment estimator to tell patients what they’ll owe before they schedule an elective surgery.
-
Patient has high out-of-pocket costs? Find out earlier! Move financial talk to front end
More patients have access to insurance coverage today, but they also have higher out-of-pocket responsibility.
-
Patient has high out-of-pocket costs? Find out earlier! Move financial talk to front end
More patients have access to insurance coverage today, but they also have higher out-of-pocket responsibility.
-
How your facility can save with reprocessing of devices labeled for single use
Have you wanted to start a reprocessing program for devices labeled for single use but faced a barrage of concerns from your physicians and clinical staff? Many of these objections are based on fiction, according to Amy J. Gagliardi, vice president of the supply chain at Westchester, IL-based Regent Surgical Health, which develops and manages surgery center partnerships. Gagliardi spoke on reprocessing at the most recent Ambulatory Surgery Center Association annual meeting.
-
Make money by reducing expenses and increasing your facility’s efficiency
Like you, I have bills to pay and expenses to cover in my business and personal life. It is not something I particularly enjoy, but by meeting my obligations, I can keep a roof over my head.
-
Intracranial Hemorrhage Risk: Are Novel Oral Anticoagulants Better Than Warfarin?
Clinicians have commonly overestimated the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) during anticoagulant therapy. Indeed, such misapprehensions have sometimes led to failure to employ warfarin (and probably other agents) when indicated for atrial fibrillation. There is little dispute that novel oral anticoagulants (apixiban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban) are simpler to use, since they do not require monitoring and are essentially free of food interactions. Clinical trials with novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have consistently documented that NOACs are associated with lesser risk of ICH, which is certainly a good thing … but how much of a good thing?
-
Colon Cancer Screening by Stool DNA Testing
Recent guidelines issued by the American Cancer Society and American Society of Gastroenterology recommend colonoscopy as the preferred screening method for colon cancer, but wisely include the philosophy, “The best colon cancer screening test is the test you can get done!” — reflecting the relative reticence shown by many Americans to undergo colonoscopy. CT colonography compares very favorably colonoscopy, yet many insurers are not willing to pay for it.
-
Long-term Payoff of Bariatric Surgery
The benefits of bariatric surgery are gaining new levels of respect as long-term evidence of favorable outcomes — other than cosmetic — continue to accrue. Indeed, in the population of obese diabetics, bariatric surgery is one of the only interventions documented to improve all-cause mortality.
-
Weighing the Harms and Benefits of E-cigarettes
So far, studies evaluating whether e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes remain mostly inconclusive.