Editor's Note The use of long-sleeved disposable OR jackets as recommended by AORN is not associated with reductions in surgical site infections (SSIs) and presents a fiscal burden, this study finds. In this analysis of 60,009 patients in 12 hospitals in a large multicenter health organization during a 55 month…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 25 released a statement warning of possible device shortages because of interruptions in ethylene oxide (EO) sterilization services due to facility closures in Illinois and Georgia. In the statement, the acting FDA Commissioner, Ned Sharpless, noted that “at this time…

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Editor's Note In this study, machine learning algorithms accurately identified cancer patients who were at risk of 6-month mortality. Of 26,525 cancer patients analyzed, machine learning models based on structured electronic health record data accurately predicted short-term mortality risk with good discrimination and positive predictive value. When the gradient boosting…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 25 announced publication of the 2020 manual for Disease-Specific Care Certification and four fall updates to the current accreditation manuals. Coming in November are the 2020 accreditation manuals for all programs.

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Editor's Note An Enhanced Recovery Pathway (ERP) created by the Mayo Clinic’s colorectal surgery service a decade ago has now been adopted by other surgical services in seven medical centers that are members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the October 15 Harvard Business Review reports. The ability of each…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on October 23 that laminated posters and badge buddies on the 2020 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) for hospitals are now available for purchase. Areas covered by the NPSGs include: Patient identification Infection prevention Patient safety risks Safe surgery. The posters and badge buddies…

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Editor's Note Clinician burnout is affecting between one-third and one-half of nurses and physicians and 40% to 60% of medical students and residents, according to a new consensus report by 32 institutions and foundations, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Among the ways to fight burnout discussed in the…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 23 announced that a new Dashboard Report is now available for accredited ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The report provides performance measurement data on select measures and is intended to facilitate conversations on data, performance measures, and quality improvement during the survey process. Using…

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Editor's Note Ketamine use has grown as a pain management alternative to opioids, but more than one in three patients experience side effects such as hallucinations and visual disturbances, finds this study, which was presented October 21 at the Anesthesiology 2019 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Duke University researchers categorized…

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Editor's Note New research from the ECRI Institute finds that diagnostic tests and medication events are the most frequent safety risks patients face in ambulatory care. ECRI Institute’s “Deep Dive: Safe Ambulatory Care, Strategies for Patient Safety & Risk Reduction” identifies solutions for five types of safety challenges in ambulatory…

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