Editor's Note The Meaningful Use program will be ending some time in 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services acting administrator, Andy Slavitt, announced January 11. New value-based payment regulations demand a more streamlined regulatory approach, noted Slavitt, speaking at the J P Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco.…

Read More

Editor's Note Expectant mothers who experience a traumatic injury and receive care at a hospital with a designated trauma center experience better outcomes than those treated at a nontrauma hospital, finds this study. The women are less likely to experience preterm labor, have a low birthweight infant, or have meconium…

Read More

Editor's Note Intraoperative hypotension does not appear to be a clinically important predictor of surgical site infections (SSIs), this study finds. Because hypotension compromises local tissue perfusion, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic hypothesized that intraoperative hypotension might promote infection. Among 2,521 patients included in the analysis, there was no adjusted…

Read More

Editor's Note The number of additional attending anesthesiologists and in-room providers (ie, anesthesia residents, nurse anesthetists) involved in a surgical procedure was independently associated with an increased odds of postoperative complications in this study. Though a surgical patient may receive anesthesia care from several anesthesia providers, the safety of anesthesia…

Read More

Editor's Note The Oregon Outpatient Surgery Center (Tigard, Oregon) is the first ambulatory surgery center in the Northwest to perform same-day total hip replacements, the January 4 Oregonian reports. The center offers both posterior and anterior total hips for qualified patients. Patients are carefully screened and must be in good…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 11 classified the recall of Stryker Fuhrman’s Pleural and Pneumopericardial Drainage Sets as Class I, the most serious. Stryker (Tempe, Arizona) received two reports that the catheter included in the Drainage Set broke off in the patient’s pleural cavity during…

Read More

Editor's Note Participation in the American College of Surgeons, National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) is associated with a reduction in postoperative adverse events, and the magnitude of quality improvement increases with time in the program, this study finds. Hospitals in the ACS NSQIP program for at least 3…

Read More

Editor's Note This 20-year study of more than 11,000 solid organ transplant patients found they had a 1.93 to 2.84 times higher risk of dying from cancer. The risk was highest for skin cancer, followed by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and liver cancer. The administration of immunosuppressants or less aggressive cancer treatment…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced January 6 that Hospira, Inc (Lake Forest, Illinois) recalled one lot of Magnesium Sulfate in Water for Injection (0.325 mEq Mg++/mL) 40 mg/mL 2g total, 50 mL (NDC: 0409-6729-24, Lot 53-113-JT, Expiry November 1, 2016). The recall was initiated because of…

Read More

Editor's Note Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs have led to reduction in length of stay and improved outcomes. This study finds that investment in an ERAS program also leads to financial savings. Despite positive results from international ERAS programs, the US has been slow to adopt such programs, in…

Read More