Editor's Note Private vehicle transport was associated with a significantly lower likelihood of death compared with ground emergency medical services (EMS) transport for patients with gunshot and stab wounds in this study. In this analysis of 103,029 patients in the National Trauma Data Bank, 87.6% were male, 47.9% were black,…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 20 announced the top five most challenging requirements for the first half of 2017. The top five requirements identified most frequently as “not compliant” during surveys and reviews for hospital accreditation were: 86%--LS.02.01.35: The hospital provides and maintains systems for extinguishing fires. 74%--LS.02.01.30:…

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Editor's Note This 12-year study showed long-term durability of weight loss and effective remission and prevention of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. For the study, 1,156 severely obese patients were divided into three groups: 418 who sought and had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (surgery group),…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 20 cleared the first duodenoscope with a disposable end cap, which will improve access for cleaning and reprocessing. The new features of the Pentax ED34-i10T duodenoscope include a single-use detachable and disposable distal cap, simpler user interface, improved ergonomics, improved…

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Editor's Note A risk-assessment system designed to avoid harm in private industry (ie, Socio-Technical Probabilistic Risk Assessment [ST-PRA]), was used by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded researchers to identify practices likely to pose infection risks in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The ST-PRA ranks failure points (events) according to…

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Editor's Note Physical activity in total joint patients did not change at 6 months after surgery and small-moderate improvement was found at 12 months, despite large improvements in pain and quality of life, this meta-analysis finds. A total of seven studies (336 patients) were analyzed. Reasons for the lack of…

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Editor's Note Primary care physicians spend more than half of their workday typing data on a computer screen and completing other electronic health record (EHR) tasks, this study from the University of Wisconsin and the American Medical Association finds. During a typical 11.4-hour workday, physicians spent nearly 6 hours on…

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Editor's Note The combined influence of stress perception and perceived coping abilities affect the health and work performance of nurses, this study finds. Of 120 nurses surveyed, in general: 92% had moderate-to-very high stress levels 78% slept less than 8 hours per night 69% did not exercise regularly 63% consumed…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is granting exemptions under Medicare quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs for certified providers (eg, acute care hospitals, long-term care hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers) affected by storms and flooding from Hurricane Irma. Providers will be granted exemptions without having to…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on September 19 updated its Safety Alert for urogynecologic surgical mesh manufactured by Boston Scientific. After an extensive review of data and testing, the FDA has determined that the change in supplier of the polypropylene used to manufacture the mesh currently on…

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