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…
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%…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 2 released its inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) final rule for FY 2017. In the rule, CMS kept a controversial 1.5% cut to hospital reimbursement, which aims to collect $11 billion in overpayments, the August 2 Modern Healthcare…
Editor's Note The high proportion of emergent surgical cases that require vascular repair demonstrates the importance of having vascular surgeons immediately available at the hospital, this study finds. Of 299 patients in 12 surgical subspecialties that were included in the study, there were indications for vascular surgery assistance in 156…
Editor's Note A survey by Loftware, Inc (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), shows that only 15% of medical device companies are currently compliant with the next phase of the Food and Drug Administration's Unique Device Identification (UDI) regulation, the August 3 PRWEB reports. The deadline is September 24. Of 120 companies polled,…
Editor's Note US News & World Report on August 2 released it 27th Annual Best Hospitals list, which compares nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures, or conditions. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is Number 1 this year, followed by the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and the…
Editor's Note RNs today are younger, more diverse, and more highly educated, according to the 2015 National Nursing Workforce Survey. Results show: The average age of RNs is 48.8 years, showing that the aging of the RN population is slowing and that retirements portend no impending shortage. Men made up…
Editor's Note The Center for Orthopedic Research and Education (CORE Institute), a group of orthopedic surgeons and neurologists based in Phoenix, Arizona, will be collaborating with the Joint Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on an infection prevention initiative for freestanding ambulatory healthcare settings, the July…
Editor's Note Double gloving by anesthesia providers was associated with less spread of oral inoculum to the workstation but was not uniformly protective in this simulation study. Between-case cleaning was found to be ineffective in removing contaminants, indicating that biologic material from one patient may still be present for subsequent…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) on July 27 released its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings of 3,617 hospitals. Only 102 received the top rating of five stars, and only a few of those are considered among the nation’s best, including Memorial Hermann Hospital System in Houston…
