Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has dropped its recall of approximately 2,800 Custom Ultrasonics’ System 83 Plus automated endoscope reprocessors. This action comes despite the FDA's finding last year that the recall was “necessary to protect public health,” the May 6 Kaiser Health News reports. The FDA…
Editor's Note Hospital employment rose 0.45% in April to a seasonally adjusted total of 5,065,400, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 6. That is 22,900 more jobs than last month and 194,400 more than last year at the same time. Overall employment was unchanged at 5% in April.
Editor's Note The use of moderate sedation leads to better outcomes than general anesthesia for patients having transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), finds a study presented May 6 at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Of 10,997 patients included in the study, 1,737 received…
Editor's Note An algorithm that uses vehicle telemetry measurements can improve the guidance of motor vehicle victims to the most appropriate place for care, this study finds. The algorithm is a computer-based program that collects information, such as occupants’ use of seatbelts, airbag deployment, vehicle speed, and point of impact.…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on May 6 announced a campaign to help educate the public on the importance of multiple identifiers in the healthcare setting. The campaign, “SpeakUp: Right ID, Right Care,” teaches patients how to make sure they are properly identified and includes an infographic, animated video, and…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on May 4 released comprehensive ambulatory surgery center (ASC) quality data reports compiled through its Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) program. Among the data reported are: Quality data code-based measures, such as wrong site, side, patient, procedure, implant Safe…
Editor's Note A simple arm test that uses a wearable technology can rapidly and accurately identify physiological frailty in older adults facing surgery, finds this study. Researchers developed a 20-second upper arm extension test (ie, upper extremity frailty [UEF] system) to assess biomarkers of frailty, such as slowness of motion,…
Editor's Note Through its Value Based Purchasing (VBP) program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid bonuses to 231 hospitals with lower quality because their patients were less expensive, this study finds. CMS began measuring both spending and quality in FY 2015 to encourage hospitals to provide more…
Editor's Note An analysis of 8 years of data by Johns Hopkins University researchers finds that more than 250,000 people die annually because of medical errors, which translates to 9.5% of all US deaths each year. The findings make medical errors the third leading cause of death. This surpasses the…
Editor's Note RN turnover because of environment-related reasons was higher in non-Magnet hospitals than Magnet hospitals in this study. Non-Magnet hospitals had 4.7 times higher turnover rates because of staffing and workload and 1.4 times higher turnover rates because of work schedules than Magnet hospitals. Nursing administrators in Magnet and…
