Editor's Note In intermediate-risk patients, outcomes (ie, death from any cause or disabling stroke) of transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR) were similar to conventional open aortic-valve replacement, this study finds. The study involved 2,032 patients: 1,011 were randomized to TAVR and 1,021 to open surgery. Previous studies have shown that survival rates…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 27 proposed two rules, scheduled to take effect in January 2017, that will ease physician documentation requirements. One rule makes changes to the “Meaningful Use” program. CMS is proposing to replace meaningful use with a new program that…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 26 announced the recall by Fresenius Kabi USA (Lake Zurich, Illinois) of one lot of Sensorcaine-MPF (bupivacaine HCL) Injection, USP, 0.75%, 7.5 mg/mL, 30 mL fill in a 30 mL vial. The recall was initiated because of the presence of…
Editor's Note Hand and arm surgical procedures can be completed safely in the outpatient setting at a freestanding ambulatory surgery center (ASC), this study finds. In this retrospective review of nearly 29,000 cases performed at a freestanding ASC over an 11-year period, there were 58 adverse events, for an overall…
Editor's Note Healthcare was the top target for cyberattacks last year, according to an IBM cybersecurity report. Five of the eight largest healthcare security breaches (more than 1 million records compromised) this decade took place during the first 6 months of 2015. More than 100 million healthcare records were compromised…
Editor's Note Nearly half of US academic medical centers are being penalized by Medicare because their aggressive screening of patients leads to identification of more infections and other complications that trigger penalties, the April 20 Kaiser Health News reports. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) maintains that the…
Editor's Note Female RNs working a rotating night shift for 5 years or more was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in this study. The analysis included nearly 190,000 RNs involved in the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHS), who were followed over 24 years in…
Editor's Note A quick, reliable, and cost-effective mobility assessment tool helped to identify older patients at risk for adverse postoperative outcomes in this study. Mobility was assessed with 10 animated video clips of activities. Patients were asked to watch each clip and respond to a series of questions about their…
Editor's Note In this meta-analysis, organ recipients who had cancer before receiving an organ transplant had higher rates of mortality and new cancers than organ recipients who had not had cancer. Organ recipients with previous cancers had a 1.5 times greater risk of dying from any cause, 3 times higher…
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on April 22 issued interim guidance for protecting workers, including healthcare workers, from occupational exposure to the Zika virus. The guidance states that: “Employers and workers in healthcare settings and laboratories should follow…
