Editor's Note Key skills may be lacking among nurses who treat patients with urinary catheters, finds this study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Of 394 nurses surveyed, 76.1% reported receiving education on catheter-associated urinary tract infection risk reduction in the last 12 months. Though 83% said they…

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Editor's Note An immediate consultation between trauma surgeons and a geriatrician improved care and outcomes for elderly accident victims in this study. Researchers compared processes of care and clinical outcomes before and after a trauma surgery program began in September 2013 that automatically referred trauma patients aged 70 years and…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a toolkit to help healthcare providers track and respond to ICD-10 performance indicators. The toolkit includes tips and resources for: assessing ICD-10 progress using key performance indicators to identify potential issues that could affect productivity or cash flow addressing…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 8 issued a warning about magnetic interference between breast tissue expanders with magnetic ports and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) or pacemakers in patients. The breast expanders can interfere with the functioning of these cardiac devices, causing them to go into "magnet…

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Editor's Note The surgical approach to total hip (ie, anterior or posterior) has no effect on outcomes at 6 months after surgery, finds this study presented March 3 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Of 274 patients who had total hip replacements between June 2012…

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Editor's Note Physician practices each year spend 785 hours per physician to track and report quality measures for Medicare and private health insurers at a cost of  more than $15.4 billion a year, this study finds. Eight in 10 physicians surveyed reported spending more effort on quality measures now than…

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Editor's Note Though US hospitals are making gains in the fight against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, too many patients continue to get these infections, according to a Vital Signs report released March 3 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among the findings in the report:…

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Editor's Note Total hips can be performed safely and effectively on an outpatient basis, finds a study presented March 3 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. The analysis included 549 patients who had mini-posterior arthroplasties at an ASC from 2008 to 2014 and were discharged…

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Editor's Note If all total knee replacements were performed at high-volume hospitals, it could save the US healthcare system between $2.5 and $4 billion annually by 2030, finds a study presented March 4 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. In this study of nearly 90,000…

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Editor's Note Working 46 hours per week or more increases the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this study finds. Beginning at 46 hours, increasing work hours were progressively associated with increased risk of CVD (ie, angina, coronary disease, heart failure, heart attack, high blood pressure, or stroke). Compared to…

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