Jan Davidson, RN, MSN, is the AORN perioperative education specialist focusing on ambulatory surgery centers. Here she shares 10 ideas for quality improvement studies in a surgery center.
1. How well are you managing postoperative pain in the recovery room?
2. How many cases were you not able to put on the schedule each week because of staffing issues?
3. What is the patient's or family's perception of the care they receive?
4. How satisfied is your staff?
5. How profitable are your insurance contracts? How much do you make on each case once expenses are accounted for?
6. Do you duplicate paperwork? For example, does the surgeon fax over all the paperwork, ask the patient to bring paperwork to the center and print out paperwork as well?
7. How many cancellations or no-shows do you have every month, and what is the reason?
8. Do you use your block time effectively? Are there physicians who have block time they don't use but won't give up?
9. Do your cases start on time? How many of your cases start 15 minutes late or more?
10. How much could you save on supplies if your physicians standardized their supplies and equipment? How many different brands does your surgery center use?
Learn more about AORN.
Related Articles on Quality Improvement:
10 Points on Post-Surgery Infection Rates by ASC Specialty
14 Core MRSA Prevention Strategies
JAMA Readmission Risk Prediction Tools Perform Poorly
1. How well are you managing postoperative pain in the recovery room?
2. How many cases were you not able to put on the schedule each week because of staffing issues?
3. What is the patient's or family's perception of the care they receive?
4. How satisfied is your staff?
5. How profitable are your insurance contracts? How much do you make on each case once expenses are accounted for?
6. Do you duplicate paperwork? For example, does the surgeon fax over all the paperwork, ask the patient to bring paperwork to the center and print out paperwork as well?
7. How many cancellations or no-shows do you have every month, and what is the reason?
8. Do you use your block time effectively? Are there physicians who have block time they don't use but won't give up?
9. Do your cases start on time? How many of your cases start 15 minutes late or more?
10. How much could you save on supplies if your physicians standardized their supplies and equipment? How many different brands does your surgery center use?
Learn more about AORN.
Related Articles on Quality Improvement:
10 Points on Post-Surgery Infection Rates by ASC Specialty
14 Core MRSA Prevention Strategies
JAMA Readmission Risk Prediction Tools Perform Poorly