Sri Mandava

ECRI Top Health Technology Hazards List Once Again Includes Endoscope Reprocessing

November 13, 2017 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

The ECRI Institute, based in Philadelphia, has just released its annual list of health technology hazards for 2018.  Unsurprisingly, endoscope reprocessing once again appears near the top of the list, coming in as the number 2 hazard for 2018. ECRI’s list is the result of extensive research by its own engineers, scientists and clinicians, as […]

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How Michigan Medicine Tracks Tissue To Meet Joint Commission Standards and Reduce Costs

November 8, 2017 / Clinical Documentation, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (U-M) in Ann Arbor, Michigan is one of the nation’s top medical centers, and was recently named the #6 hospital in the United States according to the 2016-17 Best Hospitals Honor Roll rankings by US News and World Report.  As the main medical campus of the Michigan Medicine

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Is Your Endoscope Reprocessing Area Set Up For Success?

October 12, 2021 / Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Many hospitals continue to underestimate the importance of a successful endoscope reprocessing practice. Several hospitals and medical facilities that we’ve visited invest too little in facilities and staff to prepare their endoscopes after usage in procedures.  However, if a hospital is unable to successfully ensure the cleanliness of these vital reusable instruments, they could be

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Why Tracking Down Patients With Recalled Implants Is Hard Even With Unique IDs

November 1, 2017 / Cath Lab, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Patient Safety, Radiology, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

Recalled medical devices continue to be a patient safety and financial concern for hospitals and insurers. A recent study by Medicare estimated that over a 10 year span, they spent over $1.5 billion on surgeries and follow-up for over 73,000 patients implanted with one of seven defective heart devices.  With such a staggering sum spent

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The Importance of Visual Inspection for Endoscope Reprocessing

October 12, 2021 / Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Visual inspection has emerged in recent years as an important quality assurance step during endoscope reprocessing. Updated guidelines from AAMI, AORN and SGNA have all included a visual inspection step during the disinfection process to ensure that scopes are being thoroughly prepared for the next patient. All three standards organizations have come out in support

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Falling Short of Your Cost Reduction Goals? You’re Not Alone

October 25, 2017 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

A recent survey by Kaufman, Hall & Associates has revealed that most hospital executives feel that they are falling short of their cost reduction goals.  They survey of over 150 senior hospital executives revealed that 75% of the respondents felt that their cost transformation success has been average to below average. The move from volume

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How To Maximize Revenue With Clinical Documentation Improvements

October 23, 2017 / Clinical Documentation, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Revenue Cycle, The Business of Surgery /

With the healthcare payment market continually in flux, hospitals are doing all they can to maximize the revenue that they receive for their work. Not a dollar can slip through the cracks with the narrow margins that most hospitals are operating at. Many hospitals have recognized the merits of a strong clinical documentation improvement (CDI)

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New Research On Endoscope Disinfection Reveals Importance of Forced Air Drying

October 20, 2017 / Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

A new study into the cleanliness of endoscopes following high level disinfection has revealed some important findings.  The research team, headed by Dr. Adarsh Thaker at UCLA, used specialized digital video cameras to perform visual inspection on 59 duodenoscopes, gastroscopes, echoendoscopes and colonoscopes after manual cleaning and high level disinfection. Each visual inspection included a

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Return Clinician Time To Patients With EMR Improvements

March 6, 2018 / Big Data, Clinical Documentation, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

Physicians and other clinicians in hospitals have been increasingly vocal about their frustration with the time they are spending documenting encounters in EMRs instead of focusing on patient care.  Backing up that claim is a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that found that only 27% of the average day is spent by

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FDA Clears Pentax Duodenoscope With Disposable Cap To Advance Safety

October 3, 2017 / Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the first duodenoscope with a disposable distal cap.  It is believed that the new feature will improve access for cleaning and reprocessing of duodenoscopes, leading to improved patient safety.  The Pentax model ED34-i10T duodenoscope is being released following a field correction issued earlier in 2017

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