Fitch Ratings Foresees Dark Days Ahead For Hospitals

December 24, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Covid-19’s recent resurgence is straining already struggling hospitals that were showing recovery signs in the 3rd quarter of 2020. With the increasing infection rates of Covid-19 around the country during the holiday season, a combination of voluntary and forced reductions of elective procedures is negatively impacting hospitals’ bottom line. Hospital operating margins suffered severely during […]

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Olympus Warns That Its EUS Scopes May Pose Infection Risk

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

Olympus recently issued an Urgent Field Safety Notice regarding the usage of its Endoscopic Ultrasound Endoscopes (EUS). The recall from Olympus comes on the heels of several potential safety issues regarding endoscope reprocessing over the past several years. All of the major endoscope manufacturers had gone through several rounds of notices regarding the usage and

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Hospitals Need To Take Another Look At Their Endoscope Disinfection Protocols

October 12, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

With infectious diseases in the spotlight due to the recent surge of Covid-19 in the United States, hospitals must do all they can to ensure the highest levels of effectiveness of their disinfection and sterilization protocols. With this in mind, hospitals need to re-examine their endoscope reprocessing protocols to ensure they meet the highest standards,

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Report Shows That Hospital Margins Continue To Shrink During Pandemic

December 4, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

With Covid-19 showing no signs of abating, and with the pandemic most likely consuming the US healthcare system for the next 6-12 months, hospitals and healthcare systems must continue to rein in costs in order to operate profitably for the short- and medium-term. Even after Covid-19 is finally under control, it may take some time

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Half of Hospitals Not Prepared For Virtual Accreditation Surveys

December 8, 2020 / Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

With The Joint Commission (TJC) and other accreditation organizations moving to more virtual surveys in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many hospitals are scrambling to prepare their documentation for a virtual world. These accreditation visits are crucial to hospitals that require successful surveys in order to receive funds from the Centers for Medicare and

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How One Hospital Adjusted Their Endoscopy Practice To Prevent The Spread Of Covid-19

October 6, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

As the Covid-19 pandemic surges across the world, hospitals have had to adjust their practices to minimize patient exposure to the virus. Endoscopic procedures, which introduce reusable endoscopes into the body, are one procedure that many have identified as an area at high risk. One hospital in Italy recently published research about their experience updating

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How To Prevent Endoscopes From Spreading Covid-19

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

As Covid-19 continues to spread across the US and other countries around the world, hospitals must do all they can to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks within their walls. One potential way that Covid-19 could spread undetected is through the use of improperly disinfected endoscopes on patients. Cori Ofstead of Ofstead and Associates has been studying the

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Texas Health System Successfully Reprocesses N95 Masks Using Hydrogen Peroxide

November 5, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

With the US projected to continue to have a shortage of N95 masks for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, several hospitals are testing various methods of sterilizing masks to enable multiple uses. Researchers at the Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center in Houston recently oversaw a series of tests where N95 masks were reprocessed

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Ensure Employee Accountability With A Vocera Tracking System

October 23, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

Many hospitals have implemented Vocera smartbadges throughout their campus in order to improve communication between employees. These devices have become ubiquitous in some of the busiest areas of the hospital to help improve collaboration and reachability. However, due to the sheer number of smartbadges in circulation at some hospitals, tracking and maintaining the devices has

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Academic Medical Centers and IDNs Need To Invest In An Enterprise-Wide Supply Tracking System

October 16, 2020 / Clinical Documentation, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Revenue Cycle, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

More than ever, today’s healthcare environment is calling for hospitals and health systems to rein in their costs. With all of the pressures of Covid-19 placed on top of prior concerns such as declining reimbursements and the shift to value-based care, hospitals are quickly looking to reduce costs while maintaining high standards of care. One

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