Improving postop transitional care with phone-based program
Editor's Note A phone-based transitional care program after complex abdominal surgery has high patient engagement and can be implemented using existing hospital infrastructure, this study finds. For the program, nurses met patients before hospital discharge and then contacted them within 24 to 72 hours to review: medication reconciliation any symptoms…
ECRI Institute issues free resource on ransomware attacks
Editor's Note The ECRI Institute (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania) on May 25 issued a free public resource to protect hospitals from ransomware attacks. The new guidance, “Ransomware Attacks: How to Protect Your Medical Device Systems,” provides recommendations for adapting general cybersecurity principles to the requirements of medical devices, including a list…
Joint Commission: Safety update on improperly sterilized, HLD equipment
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on May 24 issued a new Quick Safety update on improperly sterilized or high-level disinfected (HLD) equipment, which continues to be a frequently scored noncompliant standard (IC 02.02.01). The update includes expanded safety actions to help leaders oversee sterilization and HLD processes and ensure that…
Mortality lower at teaching hospitals
Editor's Note In this study, major teaching hospital status was associated with lower mortality rates for common medical and surgical conditions, compared with nonteaching hospitals. The analysis of 21.4 million hospitalizations of Medicare patients at 4,483 hospitals (250 major teaching, 894 minor teaching, and 3,339 nonteaching) found that 30-day mortality…
Survey: Nurses love their work, fatigue a problem
Editor's Note A new Kronos survey finds that 93% of nurses are satisfied with their career choice, but fatigue is a substantial issue, the May 8 Business Wire reports. In the survey titled, “Employee Engagement in Nursing,” 98% say their work is both physically and mentally demanding. More than 40%…
FDA: Class I recall of HeartMate II LVAS Pocket System Controller
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 23 identified the recall by Abbott-Thoratec (Pleasanton, California) of its HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist (LVAS) Pocket System Controller as Class I, the most serious. Abbott-Thoratec has receives 70 reports of incidents in which the controller malfunctions after an exchange,…
Clotting assay predicts need for massive transfusion in trauma patients
Editor's Note Using a new blood clot strength test based on a modified thrombelastography (TEG) assay with exogenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), researchers at the University of Colorado, Denver, were quickly able to assess the overall ability of blood to clot and identify trauma patients in need of a massive…
National Advocacy Day leads to new cosponsors for ASC legislation
Editor's Note The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2017 (HR 1838/S 1001) has added new cosponsors in the US House of Representatives and was introduced in the Senate, the May 23 Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) News Digest reports. Many of the cosponsors signed on as a…
FDA: Class I recall of Wingman35 Crossing Catheters
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on May 17 identified the recall by ReFlow Medical (San Clemente, California) of certain lots of its Wingman35 Crossing Catheters as Class I, the most serious. The catheters are being recalled because of tip splitting or separation that has resulted in two adverse…
Effect of early discharge after surgery on costs
Editor's Note Early postoperative discharge after major inpatient surgery was associated with lower total surgical episode payments in this study. In this analysis of 639,943 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colectomy, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), or total hip replacement, payments were significantly lower in hospitals with lowest vs highest length of…
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