Are you ready for difficult airways?

Patients with difficult airways are rarely encountered, so these skills need to be practiced, and you must have the right equipment available. Difficult airways courses are helpful. Fiberoptic intubations are rare, so ED physicians should use fibroscopes rountinely for other procedures. Use stainless steel laryngoscopes with fiberoptic light.     

Are you ready for the surveyors?

Prepare staff members for JCAHO inspections by playing the role of the surveyor.     

Are you ready for your CLIA survey?

Dear Laboratory Director:Your laboratory has been selected to be surveyed as part of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) program's efforts to visit and gather information about the testing being performed in Certificate of Waiver laboratories in the United States.     

Cost cutoff. Are you ready for Medicare's new PPS?

Medicare's new PPS will radically change the way skilled nursing facility managers think about acuity levels, therapies, and billing, among other key factors. How will it change the way you do your job, and what can you do to prepare for it?     

Are you ready for the net generation or the free agent learner?

The newest generation of soon to be health care professionals was raised by Father Google and Mother IM. The world has been a connected place for them their entire lives. They are experts at multitasking. They prefer electronic over print news, dictionaries, and maps; cell phones that do more than make phone calls; e-mail exchanges over face-to-face visits; online payments over checks; and credit cards over cash. In this column, I share some information about technology and these digital natives that I, a digital immigrant, have recently discovered.