Physician-owned surgical hospitals performed better in VBP program
Editor's Note Medicare’s value-based purchasing (VBP) program revealed superior performance associated with physician owned surgical hospitals in this study. Researchers analyzed 3,089 hospitals that included physician-owned surgical, University HealthSystem Consortium, US News & World Report Honor Roll, Kaiser Permanente, and Accountable Care Organization hospitals. Estimated mean total performance scores were…
Rural patients have higher trauma mortality
Editor's Note Patients in rural hospitals are significantly (14%) more likely than nonrural patients to die after traumatic injuries, this study finds. The disparity was greatest for injuries occurring in the South and Midwest and for cases with an injury severity score of <9 or unknown severity. Distance and time…
FDA issues draft guidance on when to seek reapproval for medical devices
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 8 published draft guidance on when medical device manufacturers and software developers must obtain FDA clearance before making changes to existing products, the August 8 Modern Healthcare reports. The draft says if the “overall structure” of a device’s software is…
Web-based handoff tool reduces medical-surgical errors
Editor's Note Hospitals can avoid medical-surgical patient handoff errors by using a web-based handoff tool to improve communication among physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers, this study finds. Of 5,407 patients included in the study, 77 errors were detected before implementation of the handoff tool versus 45 after implementation. Brigham…
Nontechnical skills also matter in surgical patient safety
Editor's Note Technical and nontechnical skills are both important to successfully and safely perform surgical procedures, according to recommendations presented August 5 at the National Surgical Patient Safety Summit in Rosemont, Illinois. Among the recommendations were that the surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurses, and support staff ensure consistent use of surgical safety…
FDA: Hospira recalls one lot of 0.25% Bupivacaine Hydrochloride Injection
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 5 reported that Hospira, Inc (Lake Forest, Illinois) is recalling one lot of 0.25% Bupivacaine Hydrochloride Injection, USP (NDC: 0409-1159-02, Lot 59-064-DK, Expiry 1 Nov 2017) because of the presence of particulate matter found in a single vial. The lot…
CMS issues final PPS rule for 2017
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on August 2 issued its final rule for the FY 2017 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS), which increases rates by 0.95%. The 0.95% increase reflects the projected hospital market basket update of 2.7% for those hospitals that were meaningful users…
ACS issues statement on OR attire
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on August 4 issued a Statement on Operating Room Attire for surgeons in and out of the OR. The statement provides detailed guidelines on wearing the skullcap in a way that ensures patient safety, facilitates enforcement of the standard on wearing scubs…
Hospital readmission penalties reach new high
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) hospital readmission penalties will hit a new high over the next year as the government agency withholds more than half a million dollars in payments, the August 2 Kaiser Health News reports. CMS will punish more than half of US hospitals…
Association between surgeon specialization and mortality
Editor's Note For four cardiovascular and four cancer procedures, surgeon specialization was an important predictor of operative mortality, independent of volume, this study finds. Analyzing Medicare data for more than 25,000 surgeons and nearly 700,000 patients, the relative risk reduction from greater specialization in the cardiovascular procedures ranged from 15%…
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