Editor's Note The OR Manager Conference program committee is seeking presentation proposals for the 2023 conference, to be held September 18–20 at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Perioperative leaders who have experience or a story to share in the following categories are encouraged to submit a proposal by December…

Read More

Editor's Note This study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, finds that in the COVID-19 pandemic’s early phases, most deaths were in older people, but in 2021, deaths in younger people increased while deaths in older people decreased. The researchers, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data,…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 23 announced that it had updated its 2023 ORYX performance measure reporting requirements, effective January 1, 2023. Key updates for hospitals and critical access hospitals include: Three new electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs)—hospital harm, severe hypoglycemia; hospital harm, severe hyperglycemia; and ST-segment elevation…

Read More

Editor's Note  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new memorandum on November 28 emphasizing the importance of enforcing regulations and expectations to create a safe environment for hospital staff when delivering patient care, the American Hospital Association reported on November 28. According to the memo, the…

Read More

Editor's Note This study, by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and California Department of Public Health, finds significant increases in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in California acute-care hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSIs). The researchers found…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration, on November 23, identified the recall by Baxter Hillrom of its WatchCare Incontinence Management System (IMS) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk for radiofrequency (RF) emissions from WatchCare devices that may interfere with other devices,…

Read More

Editor's Note Michigan has launched its first RN apprentice program in light of the state’s significant nursing shortage, HealthLeaders November 14 reports. Created from a partnership with Corewell Health Ludington Hospital and West Shore Community College, the program will combine both instructive and experiential learning, as well as nurse mentorship,…

Read More

Editor's Note A shortage of medications used in treatment of pediatric illnesses are causing additional challenges for healthcare providers amid spikes in respiratory viruses, according to a November 22 CNN story, reports Becker’s Hospital Review November 23. It was reported by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) that as…

Read More

Editor's Note Part 1 of the Benchmark Questionnaire on Operating Room Business Practices (Elective Cases Only) closes December 5, 2022 at 8 pm ET. We ask that you take 10 minutes to complete the survey to help highlight best OR Practices for our readers.  The first part of this 2-part survey…

Read More

Editor's Note This French study finds that during the Delta and Omicron periods of COVID-19, parents’ vaccination status was associated with hospital admissions for their children younger than 5 years of age, for whom vaccines were not licensed. During the study period, 599 children were admitted to the hospital. For…

Read More