The impact of OSHA regulations on nursing care cost and compliance.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires health care facilities to protect employees from bloodborne pathogens. One of the mandates is to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to employees at no cost to the employee. In this article, the authors explore the cost and compliance of implementing the new OSHA regulations for nursing staff assisting with colonoscopies over a 6-month period. The data were collected on a total of 461 procedures. The cost of implementing PPE for the nursing staff was $2.98 per procedure. The PPE available for the nursing staff included goggles, splash-proof gown, face mask, shoe covers, and latex gloves. The total cost of implementing the new regulations for the nursing staff assisting with colonoscopies was $2,747.56 and was projected to cost approximately $50,000 yearly if implemented for all GI procedures in the institution. Staff compliance rates for the five pieces of PPE ranged from 6.5 to 97.8%.

The impact of disposable equipment on room fee reimbursement for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

Disposable equipment is widely used in many gastroenterologic procedures. Such equipment decreases risks of cross contamination, is convenient, and decreases the processing, storage, and cost of reusable equipment. However, disposable equipment has a far-reaching environmental impact. Most disposable equipment must be handled as infectious waste. Moreover, cumulative costs associated with disposable equipment may be quite high. In this study, the authors attempted to delineate the percentage of room fee reimbursement spent on disposable equipment. The procedure selected for the study was Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Two hundred forty-eight procedures were surveyed over a 6-month period between September 1992 and February 1993, and the total cost of each procedure was calculated. Reimbursement figures for diagnostic and therapeutic ERCPs were obtained for Medicare, contracted providers, and private payors. The percentage of room fee reimbursement monies used for disposable equipment for diagnostic ERCPs ranged from 5.8 to 12.8%. For disposable equipment in therapeutic ERCPs the percentage of room fee reimbursement monies ranged from 40.5 to 59.7%. Combining both diagnostic and therapeutic ERCPs, the percentage of room fee reimbursement to defray the cost of disposable equipment was 42.4%. Disposable equipment costs are a large portion of the room fee reimbursement. leaving potentially inadequate revenues for salaries, general upkeep of equipment, and capital to buy new or replace aging equipment.

Prospective evaluation of costs of disposable accessories in diagnostic and therapeutic ERCP.

Procedural (room fee) reimbursement from insurance payers is usually fixed for individual endoscopic procedures and may not include the costs of disposable equipment. This study estimated costs of disposable items used in ERCP procedures and calculated the percentage of total reimbursement spent on such equipment. A total of 248 ERCPs were performed in a 5-month study period, 192 (77%) of which were therapeutic. Total reimbursement was estimated to be $112,262 ($452 per procedure) and total disposable equipment costs were $47,195 ($190 per procedure), or 42% of total reimbursement. Disposable instrument costs in diagnostic ERCP approximated 13% of those associated with therapeutic ERCP, and the latter costs in turn utilized more than 60% of Medicare/Medicaid room fee reimbursement. This reimbursement may be inadequate to cover both disposable instrument costs and other procedural expenses, such as admit-recovery costs, nursing assistance, expenses related to endoscope purchase and capitalization, and equipment cleaning or sterilization. Our data suggest the need for either re-usable endoscopic accessories or adequate compensation to cover disposable instrument costs.

Esophageal perforation: an 8-year review of a multispecialty clinic's experience.

Esophageal perforation is the most serious perforation of the gastrointestinal tract, and despite early diagnosis and treatment, mortality remains high. Twenty-four cases of esophageal perforation seen at a large multispecialty clinic between 1983 and 1991 were retrospectively reviewed. Thirteen patients presented with acute perforation, five with subacute, and six with chronic perforation. Eighteen (75%) of 24 perforations resulted from iatrogenic causes, and the rest were spontaneous. Of the iatrogenic perforations, therapeutic endoscopy and paraesophageal surgical complications were responsible for 55% and 33%, respectively. Chest pain, fever, and dyspnea were common presenting signs and symptoms of acute perforation, whereas dysphagia and supraventricular arrhythmia were more prominent features of chronic perforation. All but seven patients had surgical intervention. An overall mortality rate of 46% was noted, and despite early diagnosis and treatment, this mortality was associated with the severity of underlying disease.

The utility of immunocytochemistry in invasive adenocarcinoma of the cervix.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the utility of immunocytochemistry in the management of cervical adenocarcinoma. Patterns of reactivity to various immunocytochemical markers were correlated with clinically known risk factors for recurrence. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective evaluation of 55 patients with invasive cervical adenocarcinoma was conducted. Monoclonal antibodies were generated against various human intermediate filament proteins and tested on fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue by the avidin-biotin complex immunoperoxidase method. Dako V9 antivimentin antibodies and two anticytokeratin antibodies, 35 beta H11 and 34 beta E12, were used. Polyclonal antibodies to carcinoembryonic antigen and antibodies to epithelial membrane antigen were used. RESULTS: Of 55 patients, 50 (91%) had positive epithelial membrane antigen antibodies in tumor cells. Tissue from patients with cervical adenocarcinoma demonstrated positivity for 35 beta H11 antibodies in 46 of 53 patients (87%) and positivity for 34 beta E12 antibodies in 15 of 54 patients (28%). Vimentin antibodies were negative in all except one patient. Carcinoembryonic antigen-positive antibodies were detected in 37 of 55 patients (67%). This study also demonstrated consistent negative expression of vimentin in invasive cervical adenocarcinoma. Carcinoembryonic antigen expression rates were 50% and 75% for patients with small tumors (less than or equal to 2 cm) and large tumors (greater than 2 cm), respectively (p less than 0.01). Patients with carcinoembryonic antigen expression are at increased risk for recurrence and also sustain reduced survival potential. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with cervical adenocarcinoma and carcinoembryonic antigen expression are at increased risk for recurrence. We speculate that immunocytochemistry may detect lymph node micrometastases otherwise unsuspected by conventional microscopy.