Is product-line management appropriate for your health care facility?

Although many hospitals have adopted product-line management as a management tool, questions remain about its applicability in the health care industry. Using a national sample, the authors examine the impact of product-line management on operating results and profile hospitals in which product-line management has been associated with higher performance. Their study reveals the circumstances under which product-line management is likely to be the most successful.

Emergency percutaneous nephrostomy: technical success based on level of operator experience.

Purpose: The outcomes of emergency percutaneous nephrostomy procedures performed by operators with different levels of experience were analyzed.

Patients And Methods: A prospective study of 160 patients undergoing 169 emergency percutaneous nephrostomies was conducted. Three categories of operator experience were compared based on the number of percutaneous nephrostomies performed each year (level 1 = more than 20, level 2 = 10-20, or level 3 = less than 10).

Emergency percutaneous nephrostomy: results and complications.

Purpose: Percutaneous nephrostomy is a well-established standardized procedure in the management of patients with various urologic problems. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of percutaneous nephrostomy in an emergency setting.

Patients And Methods: Emergency percutaneous nephrostomy was performed in 160 patients with ages ranging from 2 to 89 years (mean, 52 years).