As ASCs look at ways to run more efficiently, it’s natural to look for strategies to streamline processes with your vendors. With vendors, however, good relationships are key. How can you maintain good relationships with vendors while still maximizing your time?
Case cancellations can be a frustrating hiccup in ASCs. What would you say if I told you that most cancellations are caused by improper patient assessments or poor communication? Here's how.
Attracting and retaining the best physicians is a constant process. You can do several things to help you garner interest from outstanding physicians in your area and maintain those associations.
Communication is a two-way street. It’s crucial for patients and staff of ambulatory surgery centers, ensuring positive outcomes. Efficient and effective patient communication can be challenging to establish with some patients, who may be resistant to talking about medical problems or feel uncomfortable with ASC staff. Patients may also be worried or fearful, which can shut down communication. There are ways to improve patient communication with a few simple adjustments in your ASC routines.
This is blog 2 of 3 that explains the ins and outs of pre-admissions cardiac testing from my perspective. As an anesthesiologist, with over 30 years of experience, I’ve done everything from open heart and liver transplant to fast-paced ASCs and pain management. My goal is to provide a common-sense explanation that helps ASC preop nurses to better understand cardiac testing in the context of a preop evaluation for ambulatory surgery.
So here’s what I can tell you: If stranded on a deserted island (or is it a desert island!?) doing anesthesia on old folks and I could have only one cardiac test, the cardiac echo would be it. Hands down. Stop the show.
20 years ago, most ASCs typically cared for ASA 1 and 2 patients: young, relatively healthy patients having simple, relatively non-invasive surgery. Fast forward to 2021 - as advances in anesthesia techniques, surgical techniques, and an overall better understanding of minimizing risk for ambulatory surgical patients has evolved, most ambulatory surgery center preop surgical nurses today will routinely care for at least some ASA 3 patients.
As an ambulatory surgical nurse, you know what that means: older, sicker patients with more cardiac problems. Frequently, these patients come with either (1) a slew of pre-admissions documentation that you have to weed through or (2) nothing at all. It seems like there’s never just the right amount!
Transitioning from paper records to cloud software offers multiple advantages to your ASC. Records are more secure, efficiency is increased, paperwork is minimized, problems with misfiling and lost forms are eliminated, and you no longer have to store vast amounts of paper. Despite the many advantages of ASC cloud software, staff can be resistant to the change. In a hectic Ambulatory Surgery Center, individuals may resist changing the way they've been doing things for years. How do you get your staff on board with a change from paper to cloud software solutions?
Two thousand twenty one.
