Editor's Note The Philadelphia Pediatric Medical Device Consortium (PPMDC) has chosen two companies out of eight finalists to receive grants of $50,000 each to develop medical devices for children. The devices include a: speech generating system that allows hospitalized children who are unable to speak to communicate with clinicians handheld…

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Editor's Note Surgical patients who received antibiotic prophylaxis before low-risk procedures did not have an increased risk for postoperative antibiotic-resistant infections, this study finds. Of 22,138 patients included in the analysis, 689 developed an infection within 30 days after surgery. Of these, 550 (80%) had received antibiotic prophylaxis, and 338…

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Editor's Note In response to the destruction caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the ECRI Institute is providing free access to resources, publications, and tools to help guide healthcare facilities affected by natural disasters. The Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Resource Center, which includes links to material from the ECRI…

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Editor's Note In a survey from the HealthCare Executive Group, clinical and data analytics was was the top of 10 challenges the healthcare industry will face in 2018, the October 9 Becker’s Health IT & CIO Review reports. Value-based payments was third, cybersecurity was sixth, and mobile health technology was…

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Editor's Note Millennials are entering the nursing workforce at nearly double the rate that baby boomers once did, this study finds. Overall, a millennial is 186% more likely to become an RN than a baby boomer. This means the RN workforce will continue to grow, but boomer retirements will still…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is moving submission of 2017 meaningful use (MU) data from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program Registration and Attestation System to the QualityNet Secure Portal (QNet), effective January 2, 2018, the October 4 EHR Intelligence reports. QNet is currently…

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Editor's Note Acute care surgery (ie, an organized system of trauma, general surgery, and critical care) implementation has occurred unevenly across the US, with rural communities and regions the slowest, this study finds. Of 1,690 hospitals surveyed, 272 had implemented acute care surgery by 2015−an increase from 34 in 2001…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 4 announced that Phase 4 of the EP [elements of performance] Review Project has begun, with EPs across all accreditation programs being evaluated for streamlining and consolidation. Revisions from the first part of Phase 4 will take effect January 1, 2018. Consolidation is…

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A major benefit of attending the OR Manager Conference is the opportunity to tap into the knowledge and experience of long-time OR leaders. During the “Ask Me Anything” forum on October 4, attendees heard from an expert panel consisting of Margo Karsten, PhD, MSN, BSN, Banner Health Northern Colorado chief…

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On Tuesday, October 3, OR Manager Conference attendees wound down from a full day of educational sessions by relaxing and celebrating with friends and colleagues at Discovery Cove in SeaWorld. After enjoying dinner, drinks, and dessert, they met with animal ambassadors to hold animals, including sloths and parrots. Later in…

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