Same-Day Surgery – May 1, 2015
May 1, 2015
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Culturing protocols devised for duodenoscopes to prevent CRE
Responding to a series of outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) linked to duodenoscopes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed an interim protocol for culturing the devices before use to create a greater margin of safety for patients. But as others have noted, the approach is not foolproof and could be costly if facilities determine that they must purchase more scopes to adopt the protocol.
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If they’re so difficult to reprocess, why are duodenoscopes approved for surgery?
With all of the difficulties in cleaning duodenoscopes, and the potential for outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, some outpatient surgery managers are questioning why these scopes are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the benefits outweigh the risks, some sources say.
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System made changes to stop ‘no authorizations’
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare made changes to prevent clinically related denials.
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Evidence of economic burden of disparate care for minorities continues to grow
A recent tragic case involving informed consent obtained from parents with limited English proficiency led to a successful lawsuit against the hospital. Eliminating health disparities for minorities would have reduced direct medical care expenditures by $229.4 billion for the years 2003-2006, according to a 2011 study. “If we don’t get a handle on health disparities, the implications are far bigger than social justice,” says LaVeist, the study’s lead author.
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Day surgery patients registered at the bedside
At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, patient access recently switched to bedside registration at the hospital’s 30-room day surgery department.
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Can you offer total hips and knees in 23 hours? Yes!
Start posting patients for hip replacements and send them home in less than 24 hours directly from your surgery center. No 72-hour-stay facility is needed.
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Administering lorazepam for patients receiving general anesthesia questioned
Although sedatives often are administered before surgery, a randomized trial finds that among patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia, receiving the sedative lorazepam before surgery, compared with placebo or no premedication, did not improve the self-reported patient experience the day after surgery, but was associated with longer time until extubation and a lower rate of early cognitive recovery, according to a study published in the March 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
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One year after surgery, preoperative program to quit smoking still shows benefits
Patients receiving a brief intervention to help them quit smoking before surgery are more likely to be nonsmokers at one-year follow-up, reports a study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.
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Study: Minimally invasive surgery could lower healthcare costs by hundreds of millions a year
A new analysis of surgical outcomes nationwide concludes that more use of minimally invasive surgery for certain common procedures can dramatically reduce postoperative complications and shave hundreds of millions of dollars off the nation’s healthcare bill.
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Nurses text, send images from the OR with new app
Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, FL, uses a new app that feeds information from the operating room directly to the smartphones of a patient’s family and loved ones. It’s called EASE, which stands for Electronic Access to Surgical Events.