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The proposed update to the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) list of approved procedures has been published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the proposals are a mixed bag for ASCs, according to industry sources.
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Although the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was required to issue a report by Jan. 1, 2005, on the costs, charges, and payments for performing surgery in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospital outpatient departments, it appears the report will not be finished earlier than the fourth quarter of this year, according to the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (AAASC).
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While laparoscopic cholecystectomies have become common at many same-day surgery programs, laparoscopic exploration of the common bile duct may be less common due to available equipment and potential damage of flexible scopes.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that some reprocessed single-use devices (SUDs) no longer can be distributed commercially.
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Walter LC, deGarmo P, Covinsky KE. Association of older age and female sex with inadequate reach of screening flexible sigmoidoscopy. Am J Med 2004; 116:174-178.
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A new 34-page booklet, Risk Management Pearls for Nurses: Focus on the OR Setting, is available from the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association (AHA).
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Same-day surgery managers were apprehensive about periodic performance reviews (PPRs) by the Joint Commission. However, the response has been so positive to the self-evaluation required at the midpoint of an accreditation cycle that the Joint Commission will make the PPR an annual requirement beginning in 2006.
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Current work practices are not adequate to protect health care workers from chemotherapeutic agents and other dangerous drugs, and hospitals need to be more vigilant in their efforts to prevent exposure, according to a hazard alert from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
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Nurses who prepare and administer chemotherapy agents in outpatient settings often dont use the proper gloves or other recommended personal protective equipment (PPE), according to a survey of oncology nurses. Furthermore, few nurses who handle chemotherapeutic drugs received health evaluations that included reproductive and cancer evaluation, the survey found.
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Studies have associated workplace exposures to hazardous drugs with health effects such as skin rashes and adverse reproductive events (including infertility, spontaneous abortions, or congenital malformations) and possibly leukemia and other cancers.
