Same-Day Surgery – October 1, 2006
October 1, 2006
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Are you prepared for a pandemic? Leading facilities share how to gear up
When Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America aired this spring on ABC, many health care providers dismissed the movie as pure, exaggerated fiction about what could happen in terms of a pandemic or other patient surges.How to limit spread of respiratory illnesses
To avoid the spread of respiratory illness in a pandemic situation and every day, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, has established "sneeze stations" in all of its waiting rooms, including those at seven OR sites.Educate your staff, and hold pandemic drills
Education and competency testing for all employees and physicians regarding pandemics should be mandatory, according to new guidance from the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN).To tape or not to tape: How do you handle jewelry?
Asking a patient to remove a treasured wedding ring or body jewelry that defines their persona is not easy. However, with the increased focus on patient safety and the risks for injury posed by jewelry, as well as the increase in the popularity of piercings and body jewelry, many outpatient program managers are looking at ways to improve their policies to address all situations.Surveyors want to see follow up to studies
A focus on the outpatient surgery building, quality improvement, and an emphasis on credentialing processes were priorities for surveyors from the Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Health Care who visited two ambulatory surgery centers this year.Same-Day Surgery Manager: Time to celebrate reimbursement changes?
Question: We looked at the new rates for surgery center reimbursement and were delighted to see the increase in our procedure reimbursement. Is it safe to open the champagne?CMS posts data on ASC payments
Consumers now have on-line access to information on facility costs and Medicare payments for 61 procedures performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).Drugs can cause problems during cataract surgery
Eye surgeons need to know if patients are taking alpha-blockers to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) because those drugs can cause complications during cataract surgery, say several national associations.Journal Review: Ergonomics research offers patient safety tips
A recent issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society contains a special section of nine articles that focus on research designed to identify patient safety issues that can be addressed from an ergonomics perspective.ISMP, FDA provide free toolkit to reduce errors
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have launched a national education campaign designed to reduce medication errors.SDS Accreditation Update: Credentialing & QI pose challenges for office programs
Reviewing the standards requirements, poring over checklists, and preparing staff members for survey questions may be standard procedure for all outpatient surgery programs that prepare for accreditation surveys, but office-based programs face certain challenges that hospital-based and freestanding outpatient surgery programs don't encounter.SDS Accreditation Update: On-line or on paper — peer review is key
Peer review is a key component of any credentialing and privileging process but it does require some effort if the outpatient surgery program is office-based, admit experts interviewed by SDS Accreditation Update.SDS Accreditation Update: Patient safety issues need your attention
Involvement of family members in discharge education and use of a comprehensive medication reconciliation form were the reason for two of the compliments paid to the office-based surgery practice of Gary Burton, MD, a plastic surgeon in Bowie, MD.Patient Safety Alert supplement