Editor's Note The Joint Commission on August 16 announced a new Quick Safety that focuses on noise and distractions in the OR and how they can make it difficult to hear and discern information or communicate effectively. ORs are prone to high levels of noise, which can be distracting and…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 15 announced a proposed rule that would cancel two bundled-payment models and reduce the number of providers required to participate in a third. The proposed rule would cancel the Episode Payment Models and the Cardiac Rehabilitation incentive payment…
Editor's Note A new Medical Group Management Association survey of 750 physician group practices finds that nearly half spend more than $40,000 per physician each year to comply with federal regulations, the August 10 FierceHealthcare reports. Respondents say the most burdensome regulation is Medicare’s new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)…
Editor's Note A research report by Marketsandmarkets predicts the global hybrid OR market will reach nearly $1.2 billion by 2022, at a 12.5% annualized growth rate, according to the August 14 HealthCareBusiness daily news. The specialty with the highest growth rate will be thoracic surgery. The biggest driver of hybrid…
Editor's Note When colorectal surgical patients, who were given a single dose of antibiotic before surgery and re-dosing if the procedure lasted longer, were compared to patients given additional antibiotics for 24 hours postoperatively, infection rates were identical, this study finds. A total of 965 patients were included in this…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 10 issued a Safety Alert to update healthcare providers on five reports of unanticipated deaths that have occurred from 2016 to the present in patients with liquid-filled intragastric balloon systems used to treat obesity. Four reports involve the Orbera Intragastric…
Editor's Note In this study, patients diagnosed on the day of surgery as moderate to high risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) had similar rates of adverse respiratory events (ie, perioperative hypoxemia and difficult airway management) as patients who had been diagnosed with OSA previously. However, those diagnosed with OSA…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has only seen a drop in readmissions by 0.1% from 2013 to mid-2016, which has industry experts and hospital leaders questioning its purpose, the August 12 Modern Healthcare reports. The Affordable Care Act mandated program, which…
Editor's Note Adding cognitive assessment to frailty assessment predicted poor postoperative outcomes and survival in frail patients better than either measurement alone, this study finds. The study included 330 patients having major surgery who were assessed with a four-level composite frailty scoring system, which was created by combining the Fried…
Editor's Note With the growth of ambulatory surgeries and the shift to Medicare reimbursement for outpatient hip and knee replacements, hospitals are acquiring and forming joint ventures with ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), the August 5 Modern Healthcare reports. This allows hospitals to keep part of the revenue and better aligns…
