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Cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are increasing among outpatients and driving up costs; in fact, a just-released study indicates that the proportion of MRSA increased more than 90% among outpatients with staph over the course of the study.
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There are many accreditation standard changes by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) effective with this month's publication of the 2010 Accreditation Handbook for Ambulatory Health Care.
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Be prepared, that old Boy Scout motto, is being applied with great success to operating room patients whose anatomy might make it difficult for physicians to help them breathe during surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a new study.
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Surgeons who are burned out or depressed are more likely to say they had recently committed a major error on the job, according to the largest study to date on physician burnout.
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(In this second of a two-part series on innovative care and pricing plans being used for outpatient surgery, we tell you how a facility offers a guarantee involving complications and billing insurance. In last month's issue, we told you how Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA, has used a checklist of best practices to save money, plus implemented a price guarantee for members of its health plan.)
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The outbreak of a novel H1N1 virus in the spring was a colossal pandemic preparedness drill for a future virus or for a stronger resurgence of the strain this fall.
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Interesting things going on out there, aren't they? Town meeting riots, "death panels," trillion-dollar budgets, "evil businesses." As a clinician, a business owner, and a health care consumer (I broke my foot skydiving a few weeks ago), I've got to tell you: I am OK with the system as it is . . . almost.
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Bon Secours St. Francis Health System received nearly $2 million in denials and successfully appealed the vast majority of them during the few months the Greenville, SC, hospital was part of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) demonstration project, says James T. Jones, PhD, RN, administrative director, case management and patient documentation for the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System.
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Inpatient surgery is on the fifth floor. L&D is on the third floor. The GI center is near the ED in the first floor. The outpatient surgery center is on two. The lithotripsy is in a trailer in the parking lot.
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The clear conclusion of a recently published study is preoperative cleansing of the patient's skin with chlorhexidine-alcohol is hands-down better to cleansing with povidone-iodine for preventing surgical-site infection after clean-contaminated surgery.1 Now it gets interesting.