Why Patient Outcomes Improve During Joint Commission Surveys

October 9, 2017 / Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that mortality of patients during Joint Commission surveys was reduced by 6% compared to before and after the surveys.  The study, authored by Andrew Olenski, Michael Barnett and Anupam Jena, attributed the improved patient outcomes to the “Hawthorne Effect.”  The “Hawthorne Effect” suggests that people actively […]

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How Big Data In The OR Saved One Health System Nearly $10 Million Last Year

August 30, 2017 / Big Data, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Big data has been a buzzword in the healthcare industry for the past few years, but more often than not, the benefits of big data have been hard to quantify. Not so for St. Louis, Missouri-based Mercy health system.  Mercy has recently turned big data findings in the perioperative area of their hospitals into savings

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Why Case Mix Index Matters To Your Hospital And How To Maximize It

October 12, 2021 / Cath Lab, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Radiology, The Business of Surgery /

In talking with our hospital customers, case mix index (CMI) often comes up as a source of confusion and misunderstanding by clinical staff.  CMI is widely tracked by employees on the financial side of the hospital, but not monitored nearly as closely on the clinical side, so its impact is widely misunderstood.  CMI is an

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Are You Able To Inspect What You Expect?

October 9, 2017 / Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

In hospitals, endoscopy, perioperative, sterile processing and infection control teams have done a wonderful job of teaming up together to implement solutions for effective flexible endoscope management. This area has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, area of scrutiny by Joint Commission and other surveying agencies in the past 1.5 years. We

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Joint Commission’s Recommendations on Creating a Culture of Safety

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

Recently, the Joint Commission (TJC) released its recommendations on how to create a culture of safety within healthcare organizations.  As hospitals work to create safer environments for their staff and patients, a culture of safety has become tantamount to reaching their operational goals.  A culture of safety can have several positive effects at a healthcare

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How Biomedical Engineering Can Help In The Fight Against Hospital Acquired Infections

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

Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) continue to be a focus area for hospital departments such as infection control and sterile processing departments.  Infection control has been a key area of focus by many US hospitals due to the huge financial and reputational risk that exists when an outbreak of a superbug occurs in a hospital.  Biomedical

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Medical Groups Come Out In Support Of The Importance Of Scientific Evidence

September 7, 2017 / Hospital Management, Patient Safety, The Business of Surgery /

Recently, dozens of societies representing different members of the medical community joined together to support the appreciation of scientific evidence, education and investment.  Groups as varied as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and the Association of American Cancer Institutes joined the cause to fight what they feel is an onslaught of

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4 Steps To Increase Patient Safety In Your Hospital

August 30, 2017 / Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

Hospitals continue to pursue patient safety initiatives as part of the overall shift in US Healthcare from volume to value.  After all, hospital acquired infections (HAIs) quickly increase the cost of a procedure and will directly affect your bottom-line.  This is on top of any damage to your hospital’s reputation that may occur from an

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Why You Need To Focus On Data Quality In Your Electronic Medical Record Today

October 5, 2021 / Big Data, Clinical Documentation, Hospital IT, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

Data integrity is becoming a focal point of many hospitals that have recently gone live with their multi-million dollar electronic medical record (EMR) systems.  While moving from paper to electronic medical records helps hospitals improve EMR accessibility and portability, it does not do much in the way of removing human error.  This becomes a potential

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Interview with Damien Berg – Sterile Processing Expert, Candidate for IAHCSMM President

August 30, 2017 / Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

I recently had a chance to sit down with Damien Berg.  Damien is the Manager of Sterile Processing at St. Anthony Hospital in Colorado, and he is running for IAHCSMM President-Elect in this year’s election.  As the election is already underway, I wanted to sit down with Damien to understand his platform and interest in

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