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

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

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

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

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

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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Leverage Your Electronic Medical Record Investment – You Only Spent Billions

Big Data, Clinical Documentation, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

You’ve seen the reports of larger healthcare systems and their investments into Electronic Medical Records (“EMR”). Most are spending hundreds of millions of dollars, and many are spending over a billion dollars!  This includes the actual software modules of the EMR, vendor labor-hours spent implementing the project, consultants, your hospital IT budget, servers, and so

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Why The Joint Commission Is Hung Up On Scopes

Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

In recent surveys, The Joint Commission has scrutinized the entire endoscope management process. Everyone understands this is because of the serious patient safety concerns and media attention, as well as the manufacturers of scopes and reprocessors having their own product challenges. So why is The Joint Commission so hung up on how scopes are hung

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3 Dangers of Expired Medical Devices

Cath Lab, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Radiology, The Business of Surgery /

A recent survey conducted by Cardinal Health showed that 24% of hospital staff have seen or heard of an expired product being used on a patient during a procedure.  This comes as no surprise, as we have witnessed the usage of expired inventory at hospitals first-hand.  Without the proper processes and vigilance to prevent these

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Is Your Endoscope Management Practice Accountable?

Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

In working with various hospitals across the country, particularly with their scope management practice, we are seeing that all caregivers absolutely have the intention of delivering at the highest level of quality and safety. As organization leaders, it is our job to help our team members meet these important goals. In working with these provider

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The Cost of Hospital Waste

Cath Lab, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Radiology, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Each year, the US healthcare system wastes $765 billion according to a 2012 National Academy of Medicine study. According to the same study, that total eclipses the annual budget of the Defense Department and the amount could be used to cover the insurance coverage of 150 million American workers. While the numbers are staggering, there

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