How a West Texas hospital Used a PSH to Improve Outcomes and Cut Costs

The burdens hospitals experience from such events are exacerbated by frequent delays from the time patients present to the emergency department (ED) to the time they receive surgery and by potential postoperative complications. These delays, involving middle-aged to geriatric patients, may be a consequence of more frequent (or more comprehensive) evaluations of the diseases of aging, such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. To address this challenge, hospitals should revisit care processes to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for process improvement. Marshalling the precepts of an emerging area of specialized medicine, perioperative medicine, the perioperative surgical home (PSH) is a possible answer to this challenge. Hospitals and health systems are increasingly adopting this approach to enhance outcome measures in various surgical populations … more →