The New Jersey Association of Ambulatory Surgical Centers recently completed its first New Jersey specific benchmarking survey focusing on surgical site infections.

Next-generation data capture solutions. Keep your teams moving and patients safer. More and more patients are turning to Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) for outpatient surgeries, diagnostic testing and preventive procedures. Case volumes continue to rise and competition for patients is intensifying. At the same time, reimbursement rates are declining. How are ASCs thriving in this rapidly-changing climate? By incorporating sophisticated data capture solutions throughout the patient journey, ASCs are enhancing patient safety, improving clinical work flows and reducing overall costs. To learn more, click here.

The ECRI Institute outlined the top 10 patient safety concerns for 2019 in a new report. 

  Experts from The Joint Commission outlined the top patient safety opportunities for this year in a blog post.

  Standardized pain care bundles can decrease opioid prescribing for outpatient procedures, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Strong leadership helps ASC staff be more producing so they can deliver exceptional outcomes, according to Ann Geier, RN, chief nursing officer for Alpharetta, Ga.-based Surgical Information Systems.

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses outlined four ways ASCs can reduce surgical site infections in a post on its blog.

Research from the American Medical Association, Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine found that burnout among U.S. physicians improved between 2014 and 2017, but the rate of burnout remains high.

Arizona's Medicaid program is investigating after the program accidentally sent personal health information to the wrong home addresses, according to azcentral, part of the USA Today network.

Columbia Surgical Specialists of Spokane (Wash.) reported a ransomware attack affecting 400,000 patients to the HHS' Office for Civil Rights Breach portal Feb. 18.

Increasing antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention resources may improve patient safety in ASCs and hospital outpatient departments, according to research published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.

New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System told The Joint Commission how staff improved hand hygiene compliance by 20 percent.

Hospitals and surgery centers reported 384 adverse events in 2018, the highest number since the state began mandating reporting in 2003, according to an annual report by the Minnesota Department of Health.

  Overlapping surgery is safe for certain patient groups, according to research published in JAMA.

A Texas committee said ASCs shouldn't be required to report healthcare-associated infections — at least for now, according to the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society.

UPMC Pinnacle Carlisle (Pa.) Outpatient Surgery Center achieved advocacy status within the health system's Journey to Excellence Certificate Program.

After outpatient surgery, adverse events are not more common with postoperative opioid use than without opioid use, according to research published in the American Journal of Surgery.

Given the increasing popularity of ASCs, quality is essential to success. Jeff Brady, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, shared his insights with Becker's ASC Review.

Lakewood, Colo.-based Pinnacle III shared three ways ASCs can effectively share policies and procedures with staff.

Providers reported 33 healthcare data breaches in January, according to HIPAA Journal.