Teamwork leads to better operating room management.

Because the diversity of staff members who work in hospital operating rooms (ORs) can cause conflicts and lead to inefficiencies, a team approach must be used to ensure better management of resources. Administrators, financial managers, and materials managers can join with OR personnel to improve scheduling, reduce time spent preparing and cleaning ORs, and better handle human resources. In the long run, reviewing OR demands and resources controls costs and improves the delivery of care.

Overcoming barriers to operating room inventory control.

Simple controls can reduce a hospital's operating room (OR) inventory by 10 percent to 30 percent. Controlling OR inventory involves a four-step plan: count the materials, estimate their value, reduce the value, and implement controls. This process provides valuable information for negotiating with vendors. Armed with inventory data, financial managers may be able to save their healthcare organizations $200,000.

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis masquerading as occult malignancy.

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) can present with weight loss, anemia, leukemoid reaction, and generalized debility; there may be no signs or symptoms referable to the urinary tract. Confusion between XGP and renal adenocarcinoma is well recognized, but other malignancies can also be simulated. Case histories of patients with proved XGP whose clinical presentations suggested occult malignancies are recorded. Proteus urinary tract infection, calculi, and a nonvisualizing kidney on intravenous pyelogram should suggest the correct diagnosis. The pathology, bacteriology, diagnosis, and treatment are reviewed.