PURPOSE The COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid expansion of telemedicine. The implications of telemedicine have not been rigorously studied in radiation oncology, a procedural specialty. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of in-person patients (IPPs) and virtual patients (VPs) who presented to a large cancer center before and during the pandemic and to understand variables affecting likelihood of receiving radiotherapy (yield) at our institution. METHODS A total of 17,915 patients presenting for new consultation between 2019 and 2021 were included, stratified by prepandemic and pandemic periods starting March 24, 2020. Telemedicine visits included video and telephone calls. Area deprivation indices (ADIs) were also compared. RESULTS The overall population was 56% male and 93% White with mean age of 63 years. During the pandemic, VPs accounted for 21% of visits, were on average younger than their in-person (IP) counterparts (63.3 years IP v 62.4 VP), and lived further away from clinic (215 miles IP v 402 VP). Among treated VPs, living closer to clinic was associated with higher yield (odds ratio [OR], 0.95; P < .001). This was also seen among IPPs who received treatment (OR, 0.96; P < .001); however, the average distance from clinic was significantly lower for IPPs than VPs (205 miles IP v 349 VP). Specialized radiotherapy (proton and brachytherapy) was used more in VPs. IPPs had higher ADI than VPs. Among VPs, those treated had higher ADI (P < .001). CONCLUSION Patient characteristics and yield were significantly different between IPPs and VPs. Telemedicine increased reach to patients further away from clinic, including from rural or health care-deprived areas, allowing access to specialized radiation oncology care. Telemedicine has the potential to increase the reach of other technical and procedural specialties.

Unintentionally retained surgical items (RSIs) are a serious complication representing a surgical "Never" event. The authors previously reported the process and significant improvement over a 3-year multiphased quality improvement RSI reduction effort that included sponge-counting technology. Herein, they report the sustainability of that effort over the decade following the formal quality improvement project conclusion. This retrospective analysis includes descriptive and qualitative data collected during RSI event root cause analysis. Between January 2009 and December 2019, 640 889 operations were performed with 24 RSIs reported. The resulting RSI rate of 1 per 26 704 operations represent a 486% performance improvement compared to the preintervention rate of 1 per 5500 operations. The interval, in days, between RSI events increased to 160 from 26 during the preintervention phase. Cotton sponges were the most retained RSI despite the use of sponge-counting technology. A significant and sustained reduction in RSI is possible after designing a sustainable comprehensive multidisciplinary effort.

BACKGROUND:Operating rooms (ORs) are resource-intense and costly hospital units. Maximizing OR efficiency is essential to maintaining an economically viable institution. OR efficiency projects often focus on a limited number of ORs or cases. Efforts across an entire OR suite have not been reported. Lean and Six Sigma methodologies were developed in the manufacturing industry to increase efficiency by eliminating non-value-added steps. We applied Lean and Six Sigma methodologies across an entire surgical suite to improve efficiency. STUDY DESIGN:A multidisciplinary surgical process improvement team constructed a value stream map of the entire surgical process from the decision for surgery to discharge. Each process step was analyzed in 3 domains, ie, personnel, information processed, and time. Multidisciplinary teams addressed 5 work streams to increase value at each step: minimizing volume variation; streamlining the preoperative process; reducing nonoperative time; eliminating redundant information; and promoting employee engagement. Process improvements were implemented sequentially in surgical specialties. Key performance metrics were collected before and after implementation. RESULTS:Across 3 surgical specialties, process redesign resulted in substantial improvements in on-time starts and reduction in number of cases past 5 pm. Substantial gains were achieved in nonoperative time, staff overtime, and ORs saved. These changes resulted in substantial increases in margin/OR/day. CONCLUSIONS:Use of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies increased OR efficiency and financial performance across an entire operating suite. Process mapping, leadership support, staff engagement, and sharing performance metrics are keys to enhancing OR efficiency. The performance gains were substantial, sustainable, positive financially, and transferrable to other specialties.

Background: Retained surgical items (RSIs), most commonly sponges, are infrequent. Yet despite sponge-counting standards, failure to maintain an accurate count is a common error. To improve counting performance, technology solutions have been developed. A data-matrix-coded sponge (DMS) system was evaluated and implemented in a high-volume academic surgical practice at Mayo Clinic Rochester (MCR). The primary end point was prevention of sponge RSIs after 18 months.Methods: Two trials were conducted before implementation. A randomized-controlled trial assessed the system's function, efficiency, and ergonomics. The second, larger trial was conducted to validate the prior findings and test product improvements. After the trials, the system was implemented in all 128 operating/procedure rooms across the MCR campus on February 2, 2009. The institutionwide implementation was intended to avoid the possibility of having standard unmarked sponges and DMSs in the operating room suite concurrently.Results: Before implementation, a retained sponge occurred on average every 64 days. Between February 2009 and July 2010, 87,404 procedures were performed, and 1,862,373 DMSs were used without an RSI (p < .001). After four cases, the average time to count a DMS decreased from 11 to 4 seconds. Total sponge counting time/operation in creased without any increase in overall operative time.Conclusions: After 18 months, a DMS system eliminated sponge RSIs from a high-volume surgical practice. The DMS system caused no work-flow disruption or increases in case duration. Staff satisfaction was acceptable, with a high degree of trust in the system. The DMS system is a reliable and cost-effective technology that improves patient safety.

Hypothesis: Describe the incidence, type, and detection method of surgical listing errors and implement a system to reduce errors.Design: All errors/discrepancies between the surgical listing and the performed procedure reported to an institutional event line during 2008 were analyzed.Setting: Academic tertiary medical center.Main Outcome Measures: Error characteristics and detection mode were documented. An error causal tree analysis was developed and used to modify the standard listing process to reduce errors.Results: During 2008, 759 listing errors were reported of 55 197 surgical procedures for an error rate of 1.38%. No wrong-site surgeries occurred. The errors were missing laterality (501; 66%), incorrect side (108; 14%), incorrect listing besides laterality (86; 11%), and other (64; 9%). Identification/correction of the listing error occurred in the following areas: nursing review the evening prior to surgery (517; 68%), preoperative admission unit (132; 17%), operating room (98; 12%), recovery room (6; 0.8%), and other (6; 0.8%). Using a causal tree analysis, error-proofing strategies applied in an electronic standardized case listing system significantly reduced the error rate from 1.50% to 0.54% (P < .05) and 2.06% to 0.49% (P < .05) in gynecologic and colorectal surgery, respectively.Conclusions: Surgical listings errors occur with a low constant rate across specialties. The majorities of errors were related to laterality and were detected prior to surgery. An electronic listing system using standardized case descriptions with required laterality significantly reduced the error frequency.

BACKGROUND:New technologies are available to reduce or prevent retained surgical sponges (RSS), but their relative cost effectiveness are unknown. We developed an empirically calibrated decision-analytic model comparing standard counting against alternative strategies: universal or selective x-ray, bar-coded sponges (BCS), and radiofrequency-tagged (RF) sponges. METHODS:Key model parameters were obtained from field observations during a randomized-controlled BCS trial (n = 298), an observational study of RSS (n = 191,168), and clinical experience with BCS (n approximately 60,000). Because no comparable data exist for RF, we modeled its performance under 2 alternative assumptions. Only incremental sponge-tracking costs, excluding those common to all strategies, were considered. Main outcomes were RSS incidence and cost-effectiveness ratios for each strategy, from the institutional decision maker's perspective. RESULTS:Standard counting detects 82% of RSS. Bar coding prevents > or =97.5% for an additional $95,000 per RSS averted. If RF were as effective as bar coding, it would cost $720,000 per additional RSS averted (versus standard counting). Universal and selective x-rays for high-risk operations are more costly, but less effective than BCS-$1.1 to 1.4 million per RSS event prevented. In sensitivity analyses, results were robust over the plausible range of effectiveness assumptions, but sensitive to cost. CONCLUSION:Using currently available data, this analysis provides a useful model for comparing the relative cost effectiveness of existing sponge-tracking strategies. Selecting the best method for an institution depends on its priorities: ease of use, cost reduction, or ensuring RSS are truly "never events." Given medical and liability costs of >$200,000 per incident, novel technologies can substantially reduce the incidence of RSS at an acceptable cost.

Background: Retained foreign objects (RFOs) after surgical procedures are an infrequent but potentially devastating medical error. The Mayo Clinic, Rochester (MCR), undertook a quality improvement program to reduce the incidence of surgical RFOs.Method: A multidisciplinary, multiphase approach was initiated in 2005. The effort, led by surgical, nursing, and administrative institutional leaders, was divided into three phases. The first phase included a defect analysis and policy review. A detailed analysis of all RFOs (both true and near misses) was undertaken to identify patterns of failures unique to our institution and operating room culture. Simultaneously, a review of all relevant institutional policies was performed, with comprehensive revisions focusing on increased clarity and inter and intrapolicy consistency. The second phase involved increasing awareness and communication among all operating room personnel, including sur peons, residents, nursing, and allied health staff. The education program included all-staff conferences, team training, simulation videos, and daily education reminders and in-room audits. Finally, a monitoring and control phase involved rapid leadership response teams to any events, enhanced staff communication, and policy reviews.Results: When the program started, MCR was averaging a surgical RFO every 16 days. After the intervention, the average interval between RFO events increased to 69 days, a level of performance that has been sustained for more than two years.Discussion: MCR experienced a significant and sustained reduction in the incidents of RFOs, attributed to the multidisciplinary nature of the initiative, the active engagement of institutional leadership, and use of the principles of enhanced communication between operating room staff members to improve operating room situational awareness.

BACKGROUND: Incidence of retained foreign objects (RFOs) after operations is unknown, as many can go unrecognized for years. We reviewed the incidence and characteristics of surgical RFO events at a tertiary care institution during 4 years. STUDY DESIGN: All RFO events, near misses and actual, reported on an adverse event line during 2003 to 2006 were reviewed. RESULTS: During 2003 to 2006, there were 191,168 operations performed, with 68 reported events resulting in a potential RFO defect rate of 0.356/1,000 patients. After review, 34 patients had no RFOs (near misses) and 34 were actual RFOs, resulting in a true RFO defect rate of 0.178/1,000 operations or approximately 1:5,500 operations. In the near-miss patient, needles were miscounted 76% of the time. In the 34 actual RFO patients, items retained were 23 sponges (68%), 7 miscellaneous other items (20%), 3 needles (9%), and 1 instrument (3%). The 34 actual RFOs occurred in incidents where the count had been reported as correct in 21 patients (62%). In 18 patients where an RFO was eventually discovered, intraoperative imaging detected only 12 objects (67%). In operations involving a body cavity, our practice is to obtain a high-resolution x-ray survey film, in a dedicated x-ray suite, before entering the recovery room. Twenty RFOs were identified from survey films and all occurred in patients with correct counts. No RFOs occurred during emergency or high blood-loss procedures and none resulted in demonstrable clinical harm. Two patients left the hospital with an RFO. Twenty-two patients (64.8%) underwent reoperation, with 1 object not removed, 6 (17.6%) retrieved without operation, and 6 (17.6%) where the clinical decision was not to remove. CONCLUSIONS: RFOs at an institution that routinely performs postprocedure x-rays indicate that RFOs can occur more frequently than expected from the literature. The majority occur in patients with correct counts. Relying on counting as the primary mechanism to avoid RFOs is unreliable, and investigating new technologies designed to achieve reliable counts is warranted.