Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on February 20 issued a rule proposing changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program, which bundles payments to acute care hospitals for hip and knee replacement surgical procedures. CMS proposes extending the CJR model for an additional…

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Editor's Note US hospitals with more internationally trained nurses have more stable, educated, nursing workforces, and collaboration among healthcare professionals is not hindered, this study finds. Researchers analyzed 2013 survey data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators that included responses from 24,045 nurses (2,156 were trained outside the…

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Editor's Note Hospitals should prepare now for an influx of seriously ill patients infected with the new coronavirus (COVID-19), critical care specialists advised in a panel discussion February 17 at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s annual congress in Orlando, Florida. A significant influx of seriously ill patients will put…

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Editor's Note Metrics derived from smartphone accelerometer data can capture differences in postoperative physical recovery in surgical patients, this study finds. In this analysis of 62 patients, smartphone accelerometer data showed decreases in daily exertional activity in 17 who experienced a postoperative event (eg, complication, reoperation) up to 6 weeks…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced February 19 that the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth has been awarded the first Primary Heart Attack Center (PHAC) certification by the Joint Commission and American Heart Association. The certification standardizes and improves coordinated systems of care for identification, assessment, monitoring,…

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Editor's Note In this study from the University of Virginia, new geriatric-specific characteristics were found to raise the risk of elderly surgical patients having unplanned readmissions within a month of leaving the hospital. The four geriatric-specific risk factors for readmission include: cognitive impairment requiring another person to sign the patient’s…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on February 14 announced that it is an active partner in the coronavirus (COVID-19) response. It is working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services and international counterparts to help diagnose, treat, and prevent the disease as well as surveil the…

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Editor's Note The use of an artificial intelligence (AI) early warning system, compared with standard care, resulted in less intraoperative hypotension in this preliminary study. This single-center, preliminary study from the Netherlands, which included 68 patients (intervention group, 34 and control group, 34) having elective noncardiac surgery, found that application…

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Editor's Note AORN on February 14 released a new coronavirus (COVID-19) tool kit to support OR decision-making for the safety of healthcare workers and patients. The toolkit includes: World Health Organization updates Centers for Disease Control & Prevention updates ECRI Institute-Coronavirus Outbreak Preparedness Center resources Journal of the American Medical…

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Editor's Note Concerns about physician shortages have led policy makers to advocate for the greater use of nurse practitioners (NPs). From 2010 to 2017, the number of NPs more than doubled from 91,000 to 190,000, this analysis finds. The growth of NPs, which occurred in every region of the US,…

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