Operating Rooms

Caught In The Act: Can You Stop Dirty Scopes From Being Stored With Your Clean Scopes?

June 28, 2018 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Does this scenario sound familiar to you? Your hospital has a great set of processes and protocols in place when it comes to reprocessing your flexible endoscopes. You even have a great system for logging clean scopes in and out of your scope storage areas. You believe that your staff are properly trained, re-certified and […]

Caught In The Act: Can You Stop Dirty Scopes From Being Stored With Your Clean Scopes? Read More »

How One Health System Negotiated Its Way To $1.5 Million In Annual Savings On Ortho Implants

May 31, 2018 / Big Data, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

HonorHealth, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based health system with over $1.7 billion in annual revenues, recently undertook a process to identify cost savings opportunities across the system. Early on, the joint-replacement service line jumped out as a prime candidate for cost savings. An early analysis by the five hospital system and their group purchasing organization pointed out

How One Health System Negotiated Its Way To $1.5 Million In Annual Savings On Ortho Implants Read More »

Expensive Medical Supplies Stolen From Hospitals

October 12, 2021 / Cath Lab, Hospital Finance, Operating Rooms, Radiology, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

A medical supply rep from Maryland was recently charged in the theft of expensive medical kits from area hospitals that he later sold on eBay.  Each of the medical kits were sold for approximately $33,000 each, netting the man nearly $200,000. As this article from The Washington Post explains: “Burke Slater, 52, of Gaithersburg, was

Expensive Medical Supplies Stolen From Hospitals Read More »

Medical Device Recalls Reach Historic Highs In 2018

May 15, 2018 / Cath Lab, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Radiology, Regulatory Compliance, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

The first quarter of 2018 included 343 medical device recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This was the highest for a first calendar quarter of any year on record and was up 126% from 2017. Experts point to the proliferation of software on medical devices as a primary driver for the record

Medical Device Recalls Reach Historic Highs In 2018 Read More »

Supply Stock-Outs Have An Outsized Effect On The Bottom Line

April 4, 2018 / Cath Lab, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Radiology, The Business of Surgery /

A recent survey conducted by Cardinal Health showed that 40% of hospital staff have cancelled a case due to an out-of-stock supply, and 69% of staff have had to delay a case while a missing supply is being tracked down. Having spoken to hundreds of staff in operating rooms, cath labs and interventional radiology labs,

Supply Stock-Outs Have An Outsized Effect On The Bottom Line Read More »

The Key To Figuring Out Your Cost Per Case

October 5, 2021 / Big Data, Cath Lab, Clinical Documentation, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Radiology, Revenue Cycle, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Historically, the cost of a surgical procedure has been a difficult equation to solve. As the US healthcare system moves more and more toward a value-based system, hospitals require now more than ever an accurate understanding of their procedure costs. These accurate procedure costs then need to be compared to outcomes in order to perform

The Key To Figuring Out Your Cost Per Case Read More »

How To Set And Track Hang-Time Limits For Flexible Endoscopes

October 7, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Hang-time limits for flexible endoscopes have been a hot topic among GI, Infection Control and Sterile Processing professionals for the last several years. With no consensus emerging in hang-time limits (sometimes called an endoscope’s shelf life), hospitals are left to make this decision on their own. With different stakeholders within the hospital looking at different

How To Set And Track Hang-Time Limits For Flexible Endoscopes Read More »

How To Create A Digital Audit Trail For Your Tissue

January 10, 2018 / Clinical Documentation, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

Tissue and related specimens present a unique tracking challenge for hospitals and surgery centers – these often expensive and occasionally one-of-a-kind items are required to be closely monitored during the hospital’s handling of each unit. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), state Departments of Health and hospital accreditation bodies, such as The Joint Commission

How To Create A Digital Audit Trail For Your Tissue Read More »

Increasing Procedural Revenue

November 30, 2017 / Cath Lab, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Radiology, Revenue Cycle, The Business of Surgery /

For the past several decades in healthcare, inventory has been managed independently from the rest of the business of providing healthcare. When you step back and look at how supplies impact the business of providing healthcare, you’ll see that hospitals can benefit greatly from extending the visibility of supplies to clinical documentation and billing. Charges

Increasing Procedural Revenue Read More »

Medicare To Consider Tracking Unique IDs For Medical Implants

November 27, 2017 / Cath Lab, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Patient Safety, Radiology, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery, Tissue Management /

As discussed in a recent article, 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. 

Medicare To Consider Tracking Unique IDs For Medical Implants Read More »