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When you adopt electronic medical records (EMRs), the biggest barrier will be resistance to change, said Melodee Moncrief, BSN, RN, CASC, administrator at Big Creek Surgery Center in Middleburg Heights, OH. Moncrief spoke on EMRs at this year's meeting of the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Association.
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So if you've decided to implement an electronic medical record (EMR), what is your first step? Do your homework, said Kenny Bozorgi, MD, CASC, chief operating officer, Magna Health Systems, Chicago. He also is a candidate for a master's degree in medical information from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
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You don't have an electronic medical record (EMR) system implemented yet, and now there's talk of patients bringing you their personal electronic health records. Should you scramble to implement an EMR system, or continue to wait it out?
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Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) should re-examine their specialty services as they enter 2009 reimbursement, which will be 50% of the hospital outpatient department (HOPD) rate, according to Judith L. English, vice president of business operations and partner at Surgery Consultants of America (SCA) and Serbin Surgery Center Billing, both in Fort Myers, FL.
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Earlier this year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an updated Safety and Health Information Bulletin on latex sensitization and latex allergy. In it, OSHA suggests the following measures to reduce health care worker exposure to latex:
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The following information is excerpted with permission from the April 2008 issue of SAMBA Talks, published by the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia:
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for marketing a device made from a new form of natural rubber latex, guayule latex. The Yulex Patient Examination Glove, made by Maricopa, AZ-based Yulex, is derived from the guayule bush, a desert plant native to the southwestern United States.
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Surgeons are disproportionately represented in attendance at a course on disruptive behaviors offered by the Center for Professional Health at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.
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Press Ganey's report Hospital Check-Up Report: Physician Perspectives on American Hospitals includes a discussion of what surgeons don't like. (For information on accessing the report, see the note at the end of this column.) I thought it was a good report, but it needed some balance. I thought I would do some research on what surgeons and other staff like! (The glass is always half full.)
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One step that helped dramatically decrease flash sterilization at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH, was daily planning between the OR and central processing, according to Roberta R. Timmerman, RN, CPN, MSN, perioperative services education nurse specialist, Nationwide Children's Hospital.
