Harvard study assesses surgeon as second victim
Editor's Note Intraoperative adverse events (iAEs) occur often and have a significant negative impact on surgeons’ wellbeing, this study finds. Barriers to transparency include fear of litigation and absence of a well-defined reporting system. A survey was conducted of all surgeons at three major teaching hospitals connected with the Harvard…
CMS extends deadline for reporting 2016 quality data
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 17 announced a deadline extension for reporting CY 2016 electronic Clinical Quality Measure data to avoid a 2.7% payment adjustment in FY 2018. The extension applies to hospitals and critical access hospitals participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality…
FDA issues Safety Alert on Lifepak 1000 defibrillators
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 14 issued a Safety Alert announcing the voluntary field action by Physio-Control (Redmond, Washington) notifying its customers to immediately remove and reinstall batteries in the Lifepak 1000 defibrillator. The company has received 34 reports of customers attempting to use the…
Outpatient vs inpatient ankle fracture repair
Editor's Note In this study of inpatient and outpatient open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) for ankle fractures, researchers found a reduced risk of 30-day medical morbidities with outpatient ORIF and no differences in surgical morbidity, reoperations, and readmissions between the two groups. The findings demonstrate that performing ORIF surgery…
Study: New surgical mask traps, kills viruses
Editor's Note A University of Alberta engineering professor and colleagues have invented a surgical mask that traps and kills viruses by applying a salt formulation to the mask’s filter fibers, the January 5 ScienceDaily reports. When an aerosol droplet carrying a virus contacts the treated fibers, the droplet absorbs the…
FDA: Certain Fujifilm duodenoscopes removed from clinical use
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 13 issued a Safety Communication that Fujifilm Medical Systems (Wayne, New Jersey) will remove its legacy 250/450 duodenoscope models from clinical use based on the limited number currently in use. Fuji will replace the 250/450 models with the ED-530XT model,…
Care after surgery drives costs
Editor's Note This study finds that where surgical patients go after they are discharged varies widely, and that variation leads to huge differences in how much their care costs. Variation in postacute care spending between lowest and highest quintiles differed 129% for total hip replacement, 103% for coronary artery bypass…
FDA issues safety alert on implantable cardiac devices, transmitters by St Jude Medical
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on January 9 issued a safety alert for St Jude Medical’s (St Paul, Minnesota) radio frequency-enabled implantable cardiac devices and Merlin@home transmitters on reducing the risk of patient harm from cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities, if exploited, could allow an unauthorized user to remotely…
ERAS shown to improve outcomes
Editor's Note In this review article, researchers conclude that implementation of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) programs results in major improvements in clinical outcomes and cost savings, which makes ERAS an important example of value-based care applied to surgery. ERAS practices include: changes from overnight fasting to carbohydrate drinks 2…
Joint Commission prohibits secure texting of patient orders
Editor's Note The Joint Commission in December banned the use of secure text messaging to transmit patient orders, the January 9 Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality reports. The Joint Commission collaborated with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make the following recommendations: Healthcare facilities are prohibited…
Free Daily News
- AHA urges HHS to cut regulations that burden hospitals and staff
- Commentary: Overlooking, underfunding perioperative mental health threatens patients
- Study: Fewer men undergo unnecessary prostate cancer surgery amid rise in active surveillance
- OpenAI benchmarking tool tests healthcare LLMs
- Healthgrades recognizes top 15% of hospitals for patient experience in 2025
- Q1 reports show climb in outpatient surgical volume, diverging trends at Surgery Partners, Ardent Health
- Study: SGLT2 inhibitors raise postop euglycemic ketoacidosis risk but lower mortality
- FDA launches effort to identify, slash outdated healthcare regulations under 10-to-1 rule
- The Joint Commission, NFQ announce 2024 Eisenberg Award recipients
- Low-income patients billed despite hospital tax breaks