News

Swedish Health CEO Dr. Guy Hudson overhauls concurrent surgery policy

08/08/2017

Infection Control & Clinical Quality

Swedish Health CEO Dr. Guy Hudson overhauls concurrent surgery policy
Written by Emily Rappleye | August 08, 2017

Less than two months into the job, the new CEO of Seattle-based Swedish Health, Guy Hudson, MD, is changing the policy about how many cases surgeons can work on at the same time, he told The Seattle Times.

Dr. Hudson took the helm at Swedish Health in late June, a few months after The Seattle Times published an investigative report about how some surgeons frequently performed overlapping surgeries at the health system.

US News picks the best states for health care. How did CT rank?

03/06/2017

Hawaii is “the best state for health care,” according to a new list compiled by U.S. News & World Report.

Power your population health strategy

Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ Recipients 2017

02/24/2017

Healthgrades this week released its annual list of “America’s Best Hospitals,” recognizing the country’s top hospitals based on their performance across multiple common conditions and procedures.

Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence list, which was released in January and recognized the top 5 percent of hospitals in the country.

How ‘best hospitals’ are selected
To be eligible for consideration, hospitals had to report sufficient data to assess mortality and complication rates for at least 21 of the 32 conditions and procedures included in the Healthgrades methodology. Healthgrades used information from CMS’ Medicare Provider Analysis and Review database for 2013 through 2015 to assess mortality and complication rates for those conditions and procedures.
Using that data, Healthgrades identified the top 5 percent of hospitals and awarded them the Distinguished Award for Clinical Excellence.

Healthgrades names top 258 US hospitals for clinical outcomes
To qualify for the 50 Best Hospitals list, hospitals must have received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for at least six consecutive years. Hospitals on the 100 Best Hospitals list, which represents the top 2 percent of hospitals based on the criteria, must have received the Distinguished Award for at least three consecutive years.

ACS Will Recruit 750 Hospitals for New Program to Lower Costs, Improve Safety, and Shorten Recovery Times for Surgical Patients

02/06/2017

ACS Will Recruit 750 Hospitals for New Program to Lower Costs, Improve Safety, and Shorten Recovery Times for Surgical Patients

CUSP for ERAS

ERAS shown to improve outcomes

01/11/2017

In this review article, researchers conclude that implementation of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) programs results in major improvements in clinical outcomes and cost savings, which makes ERAS an important example of value-based care applied to surgery.
ERAS practices include:
• changes from overnight fasting to carbohydrate drinks 2 hours before surgery
• minimally invasive approaches instead of large incisions
• management of fluids to seek balance rather than large volumes of IV fluids
• avoidance of or early removal of drains and tubes
• early mobilization
• allowing of drinks and food the day of surgery.

CDC: Connecticut Second In Percent Increase Of Synthetic Opioid Deaths Rate

01/06/2017

The rate of deaths from synthetic opioids in Connecticut, including those from fentanyl, more than doubled from 2014 to 2015, the second-highest percentage increase out of 28 states included in a recent federal analysis.

The federal report further illustrates the depth of the public health crisis in the state.

The Hartford Courant, Jan 6, 2017

Annual rankings highlight improvements, declines on various health indicators

12/16/2016

The report is based on data from the American Medical Association, CDC, and other federal agencies.

State rankings

The report for the fifth consecutive year ranked Hawaii as the healthiest state in the country, followed by:

•Massachusetts, which ranked second;
•Connecticut, which ranked third;
•Minnesota, which ranked fourth; and
•Vermont, which ranked fifth.

American College of Surgeons and Surgical Infection Society: Surgical Site Infection Guidelines, 2016 Update

12/10/2016

Purpose

Guidelines regarding the prevention, detection, and management of surgical site infections (SSI) have been published previously. This document is intended to update prior guidelines based on the current literature and to provide a concise summary of relevant topics.

Hospital faulted for removing wrong patient’s kidney

10/14/2016

A surgeon at Saint Vincent Hospital in Massachusetts unnecessarily removed a patient’s kidney because he relied on the test results of another patient with the same name, according to public health inspectors who found serious safety lapses at the hospital.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services threatened to terminate Saint Vincent from the Medicare program on Dec. 12 if the Worcester hospital does not put in place improvements, according to a letter last month from the agency to hospital chief executive Steven MacLauchlan.

ACS NSQIP develops pediatric surgical risk calculator

10/03/2016

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) has developed a pediatric surgical risk calculator based on 181,353 cases covering 382 CPT codes across all specialties.

It was found to have excellent discrimination for mortality, morbidity, and seven additional complications.

The calculator can be used as a tool in the shared decision making process by providing clinicians, families, and patients useful information for many common procedures performed on pediatric patients, according to the researchers.

CSMS Presents 2016 Healthcare Leader and Innovator Award

10/03/2016

The Connecticut State Medical Society has announced that the winner of the 2016 Connecticut Medicine Healthcare Leader and Innovator Award is Philip Corvo, M.D., M.A., F.A.C.S., chairman of surgery at Saint Mary’s. The award was presented by the Connecticut Medicine editor Michael Deren, M.D., at the 224th Annual Meeting of the Connecticut State Medical Society.

See page 3

Newsletter * Opioid Blitz Week

09/21/2016

Be informed of the latest changes on Opioids use and prescribing. Aligns with ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) multi-modal pain relief.

U.S. Surgeon General, AHRQ Support Efforts to Reduce Opioid Abuse

09/06/2016

U.S. Surgeon General, AHRQ Support Efforts To Reduce Opioid Abuse
To address prescription opioid abuse, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A, launched the “Turn the Tide” initiative and sent a letter to more than 2.3 million health care practitioners and public health leaders asking for their help in addressing opioid addiction. To augment efforts to reduce opioid abuse, AHRQ recently announced a series of grants to research how to support rural primary care practices in delivering medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for people addicted to opioids, as well as how to overcome barriers to MAT in rural communities. AHRQ is investing approximately $9 million over three years to help rural primary care practices provide access to treatment to more than 20,000 people with opioid addiction. AHRQ’s initiative supports practices through the use of in-person practice facilitation as well as technologies, including patient-controlled smart phone apps, remote training and use of Project ECHO, a program that links primary care clinicians in rural communities with specialist care teams at university medical centers. Visit AHRQ’s National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research to learn more.

CtSQC Newsletter September 2016

09/01/2016

Welcome to the Quarterly CtSQC Newsletter! For information about the Collaborative, it’s history
and contact details, please visit our newly redesigned website! www.CtSQC.org

CtSQC Newsletter Issue 2

09/01/2015

Welcome to the Quarterly Newsletter from the CtSQC, September 2015, Managing Editor Cynthia Ross-Richardson, MS, BSN, CNOR.

AARP Newsletter on ERAS

07/31/2015

A New Way to Bounce Back After Surgery by Renee Bacher

Food, fluids and exercise help speed recovery, experts say

CtSQC Newsletter Supplement

07/01/2015

Welcome to the Quarterly Newsletter Supplement from the CtSQC, July 2015, Managing Editor Cynthia Ross-Richardson, MS, BSN, CNOR.

CtSQC Newsletter Issue 1

06/01/2015

Welcome to the first Quarterly Newsletter from the CtSQC, June 2015, Managing Editor Cynthia Ross-Richardson, MS, BSN, CNOR.

Wall Street Journal March 31, 2015

03/31/2015

Patients Bounce Back Faster From Surgery with Hospitals’ New Protocol

Clear liquids and pain meds before surgery, less IV fluid during and few narcotics afterward.

Wall Street Journal
Laura Landro