Study: GI endoscopes remain contaminated after reprocessing
Editor's Note Despite reprocessing in accordance with US guidelines, viable microbes and residual contamination persisted on gastrointestinal endoscopes after each reprocessing step, in this study, suggesting current guidelines are not sufficient to ensure successful decontamination. Investigators observed all reprocessing activities, using a checklist to ensure that protocols were performed in…
FDA: Serious adverse events associated with LVADs
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on August 5 issued a Safety Communication on serious adverse events linked to left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Two implantable LVADs are approved by the FDA (HeartMate II by Thoratec Corporation and HeartWare HVAD by HeartWare Inc), and serious events have been associated…
Role of smartphones in the OR
Editor's Note Like healthcare facilities across the country, those in Oregon are struggling with the growing problem of smartphones in the OR. This article and audio includes interviews OR personnel, residents, medical students, managers, administrators, and patient safety regulators on the issue of smartphones in the OR. The executive director…
Effect of music on OR performance
Editor's Note When surgeons listen to their preferred music, they’re more efficient at closing incisions, and their technique improves, this study finds. Researchers asked 15 plastic surgery residents at the University of Texas to perform layered closures on pigs’ feet. Half the resident worked in a silent OR and half…
FDA releases supplemental measures for duodenoscope reprocessing
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on August 4 released a Safety Communication that contains supplemental measures to enhance duodenoscope reprocessing. The measures emerged from an expert panel meeting earlier this year. In addition to following manufacturer reprocessing instructions, the FDA says facilities can use one or more of…
CMS extends ASC quality measure deadline until September 30
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has extended the deadline for submitting data for the Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program until September 30, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association reports. This applies to the claims-based measures submitted via QualityNet and the Centers for Disease Control and…
Medicare penalizes more than half of hospitals for readmissions
Editor's Note Nearly 2,600 hospitals will be penalized for missing readmission targets under Medicare, with a loss of $420 million, Kaiser Health News reports. The average Medicare payment reduction is 0.61% per patient stay; 38 hospitals will receive the maximum cut of 3%. The reductions are based on readmissions of…
ACS Advocating for Critical Access Hospital Relief Act
Editor's Note A central issue discussed at the US House Committee on Ways and Means on July 28 was the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Relief Act, HR 169, which is supported by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Currently, for CAHs to receive Medicare Part A reimbursement, physicians must certify…
More physicians, nurses needed as Medicare turns 50
Editor's Note More physicians and nurses are needed as Medicare and Medicaid reach their 50th anniversary, Healthcare Finance News reports. Medicare and Medicaid paid $15 billion toward residency training programs in 2012, and the Association of American Medical Colleges has predicted a shortage of between 46,000 and 90,000 physicians by…
ASA survey: Who bears responsibility for reducing healthcare costs?
Editor's Note A survey of members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists on the level of responsibility they perceive stakeholders to have in reducing the cost of healthcare and perioperative care delivery found: physicians bear “major responsibility” (38%) physicians bear “some responsibility” (58%) physicians bear “no responsibility” (4%) hospitals bear…
Free Daily News
- Surgical robotics market accelerates as new players challenge industry giants
- Robotic surgery boosts 3-year relapse-free survival in rectal cancer
- Low-cost simulation helps surgical trainees practice crisis skills for major hemorrhage
- Nurse leaders weigh in on NCLEX pass rate decline, impact on workforce readiness
- FDA issues early alerts on multiple high-risk device recalls from J&J, Medtronic, Baxter, Boston Scientific
- New UCSF measure shows 1 in 60 cesarean deliveries involve serious surgical complications
- Hospitals can curb costly post-acute discharges with targeted periop programs, study finds
- Sameness in nursing care puts patients at risk
- CMS’s plan to phase out inpatient-only list could bolster rural ASCs
- AAAHC unveils v44 standards to sharpen focus on patient-centered ambulatory care