MedStar hospitals crippled by computer virus
Editor's Note Washington DC-area MedStar hospitals were hit by a computer virus that forced all computers offline on March 28, the Chicago Tribune reports. The shutdown of computers was the latest against US hospitals after a California hospital paid ransom to free its infected systems using bitcoin currency. The FBI…
FDA: B Braun Medical recalls one lot of 5% Dextrose Injection
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on March 29 announced the recall by B Braun Medical (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) of one lot of 5% Dextrose Injection USP 100/150 mL container (Lot #J5J706, catalog #S5104-5264, NDC -1510-32). The company received customer complaints that some containers exhibited leakage and, in a few…
Scripps Health eliminates 100 management jobs
Editor's Note San Diego-based Scripps Health announced March 21 that it will restructure its management and eliminate about 100 jobs, mostly from management and administration, in an effort to reduce operating expenses, Modern Healthcare reports. A memo to Scripps employees noted that although Scripps has enjoyed healthy operating margins and…
EHRs leading to physician burnout
Editor's Note Physicians are beginning to dread what some are calling “EHR pajama time”--the 1 to 2 hours they now have to spend at home finishing up their electronic health record (EHR) documentation after their kids have gone to bed, notes the ACS Surgery News, reporting on a session at the…
FDA: All compounded products by Reliable Drug Pharmacy recalled
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 28 announced that Reliable Drug Pharmacy (San Francisco, California) is recalling all unexpired lots of compounded products because of concerns of lack of quality assurance and potential mislabeling. The recall affects all compounded products distributed between March 24, 2015 and…
Study: Health-promoting lifestyle practices of RNs
Editor's Note In this study, overall physical activity and stress management scores were low for 494 RNs surveyed. Results showed statistically significant differences between RNs 50 years of age and older and those 30 to 39 years of age for health responsibility, nutrition, and stress management, which suggests that older…
ERAS program for total joints reduces length of stay
Editor's Note Use of an Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) program in total hip and total knee patients reduced length of stay by 1 day in this study. Short term complications and readmission rates were similar for patients in the ERAS program and those managed in a traditional perioperative care…
ACA costs rising
Editor's Note Over the next 10 years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will cost $1.34 trillion, which is $136 billion more than the Congressional Budget Office predicted a year ago, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The hike in costs is mostly a result of higher-than-expected enrollment in the expanded Medicaid…
Surgeons to use HCV infected kidneys for transplant
Editor's Note Surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University hospitals will transplant kidneys from donors with hepatitis C virus (HCV) as part of a clinical trial this spring, STAT news reports. The recipients will be given a 12-week course of antiviral therapy after the transplant in hopes…
Study: Increase in operative variability among surgical residents since 80-hour workweek
Editor's Note In this study of surgical residents after implementation of the 80-hour workweek in 2003, researchers found a significant increase in operative variability, including an increase in the variability of total major cases between the resident completing the most and fewest cases per class. This may suggest a growing disparity…
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