Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is notifying eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals that they now have until March 16 to attest for Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program requirements for CY 2017 and to submit electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) data for the…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), American Society for Microbiology, along with other experts on February 26 released voluntary standardized protocols for duodenoscope surveillance sampling and culturing, which update a 2015 CDC interim protocol. For facilities that choose to implement duodenoscope surveillance…

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Editor's Note In this study to evaluate the efficiency and safety of overlapping surgery at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, researchers found that the practice does not expose patients to increased risk of negative outcomes. Of 26,260 cases analyzed for surgical time and 15,106 for outcomes, overlapping surgery patients had:…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 26 posted a reminder that whenever non-waived laboratory services are provided on-site (either directly or through contract) within a Joint Commission accredited facility, a separate 2-year cycle laboratory accreditation survey must also be conducted either by the Joint Commission or one of its…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on February 27 classified the recall by Medtronic of certain Implantable Cardiovert Defibrillators (ICDs) and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators (CRT-Ds) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a defect in the manufacturing process. The defect causes an…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers found persistent differences in the surgical care of racial and ethnic minorities despite the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), which were expected to reduce healthcare disparities and improve access to surgical services. Rates of surgical interventions in the ACO cohort were significantly lower…

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Editor's Note The Mayo Clinic has built a central telemedicine hub to monitor six ICUs at once, raising the level of care to its patients, the February 21 VCDaily reports. The telemedicine hub operates out of a hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, where a series of interactive video conferencing links provide…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 23 announced the recall by Hospira Inc (Lake Forest, Illinois) of three lots of Labetalol Hydrochloride Injection, USP, 100 mg/20 mL vial (NDC 0409-2267-25), and one lot of Labetalol Hydrochloride Injection, USP, Novaplus (NDC 0409-2267-25). The recall was initiated because…

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Editor's Note Frailty was independently associated with postoperative morbidity in patients having common ambulatory general surgery procedures (ie, hernia, breast, thyroid, or parathyroid), this study finds. In this analysis of 140,828 patients in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, the relative risk of complications was increased…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 21 announced that it has created specific versions of 19 elements of performance (EPs) for deemed ambulatory surgical centers and specific versions for federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to improve access in the E-dition. The EPs were added for the Centers…

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