Anesthesiology

Computerized Patient Information Management Systems

Detection of Patient Awareness During General Anesthesia

International Standards for the Safe Practice of Anaesthesia

Safety in the Operating Room

Safety in the Post Anesthesia Care Environment

 


Computerized Patient Information Management Systems

Handwritten anesthesia records are no longer adequate to track a patient's clinical course during modern anesthesia. Computer monitoring not only enhances the quality of the anesthesia record--improving accuracy, reliability and credibility--but can also integrate management information that can significantly enhance resource and risk management strategies.

Some related materials produced by Communicore:

White Paper
Information Management in Anesthesia

Newsletter
Medical IQ Review

Issues Videos
Information Management in Anesthesia
Information Management in Anesthesia II

Technology Video
A Matter of Time

Annotated Bibliography
Anesthesia Information Management Systems

 

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Detection of Patient Awareness During General Anesthesia

Awareness during anesthesia may occur in up to 150,000 patients who undergo general anesthesia in the U.S. each year. Patients may suffer severe physical and psychological trauma from such an experience, which not surprisingly can also lead to significant malpractice claims. New EEG technology can greatly improve the accuracy of patient awareness monitoring during anesthesia.

Some related materials produced by Communicore:

White Paper
Patient Awareness During Anesthesia

Article
Stack, JF. Patient awareness during general anesthesia poses risks. QRC Advisor. 1997; 13(3):1,6­8.

 

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International Standards for the Safe Practice of Anaesthesia

Following its work in the development of anesthesia standards of care in the United States in the mid-1980s, Communicore conceived and subsequently coordinated the activities of the International Task Force on Anaesthesia Safety. With representation from leading anesthesiologists from ten countries, the Task Force developed a set of standards that could be applied worldwide, regardless of medical and economic resource circumstances. These standards were later adopted by the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists as their own and subsequently published in more than twenty languages worldwide.

Some related materials produced by Communicore:

Symposium Proceedings
International Task Force on Anaesthesia Safety

Article
International Task Force on Anaesthesia Safety. International standards for a safe practice of anaesthesia. European Journal of Aneasthesiology. 1993;10(7):12­15.

 

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Safety in the Operating Room

Prior to the mid-1980s, the medical literature had documented 5,000-10,000 unexpected deaths from anesthesia in the U.S. alone, primarily due to undetected hypoxemia--inadequate oxygenation of the blood. The advent of pulse oximetry along with capnometry and halometry as newly enhanced clinical monitoring technologies that continuously and non-invasively monitored the patient's oxygen, carbon dioxide and anesthetic agent levels promised to dramatically improve patient safety in the operating room. [With the adoption of standards of care in 1986 in the U.S., intraoperative unexpected death rapidly became a rare event].

Some related materials produced by Communicore:

Issues Video
Safety in Anesthesia

 

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Safety in the Post Anesthesia Care Environment

Expanded monitoring capabilities, particularly pulse oximetry, can improve clinical and risk management in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) and result in significant improvement in both clinical outcomes and efficient utilization of hospital resources.

Some related materials produced by Communicore:

Issues Videos
Safety in the Post Anesthesia Care Environment

 

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