Editor's Note Patients treated at hospitals located in competitive regional markets were more likely to have robotic-assisted surgical procedures, this study finds. However, when the analysis was limited just to hospitals that performed robotic-assisted surgery, competition was no longer associated with the use of robotic technology. In addition, hospital financial status had…

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Editor's Note The Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) has released two new standards focused on infection prevention. The revised “Standards of Infection Prevention in Reprocessing of Flexible Gastrointestinal Endoscopes” details nine steps for successful reprocessing. The previous standard had eight steps—visual inspection used to be included with manual…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 11 published it’s latest Quick Safety newsletter, which focuses on informed consent. Implementing an effective informed consent process poses numerous challenges, and frequently patients do not understand the risks, benefits, and alternatives involved in their treatment or surgical procedures, the Joint Commission says.…

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Editor's Note This study of patient readmissions finds that hospitals are receiving financial penalties because of patient social determinants of health (SDH) factors (ie, race, ethnicity, payer, and household income) and not because they provide poor quality of care. Analyzing hospital readmissions at 43 children’s hospitals, researchers found that adjusting…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on February 16 issued a new guidance recommending the deferral of individuals from donating blood if they have: been to areas with active Zika virus transmission potentially been exposed to the virus had a confirmed Zika virus infection. The FDA is issuing these…

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Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released guidelines on how the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) applies to health information a patient creates or manages through a health app and when app developers are required to comply with HIPPA rules. The new…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and major health insurance plans, in concert with physician groups and other stakeholders, on February 16 announced a new agreement to standardize measures of quality for physicians. The agreement outlines seven core measure sets to be used as a basis…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 16 launched a new initiative called “Pioneers in Quality.” The program provides education and support for hospitals as they strive to meet the growing requirements for electronic clinical quality measures. Key components of the initiative include: Educational webinars Resource portal Modified annual report focusing…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline to attest to achieving “Meaningful Use” in 2015 to March 11, the February 12 MedCity News reports. The original deadline had been February 29. CMS announced the extension in an e-mail to providers and health IT…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers found microorganisms with the potential to cause infections being injected into patients during administration of drugs by anesthesiologists during surgical procedures. The study included 23 anesthesiologists, each anesthetizing up to 25 patients. The anesthesiologists were asked to inject all bolus drugs, except propofol and…

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