SHEA, IDSA update strategies to prevent SSIs
Editor's Note The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Infectious Diseases Society of America have updated the 2008 Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute care Hospitals. The evidence-based recommendations include 15 strategies for SSI prevention and a special section on implementation that emphasizes a team-based approach…
Joint Commission urges hospitals to share successes via CSME
Editor's Note The Joint Commission is urging accredited hospitals to share their performance measure solutions in the Core Measure Solution Exchange (CSME). CSME is an interactive, online, peer-to-peer collaborative network where hospitals that have attained excellent performance on core measures, including accountability measures, can share their success stories. To date,…
FDA issues draft guidance on requirements for surgical gowns
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft guidance to describe its premarket regulatory requirements and performance testing needed to support liquid barrier claims for gowns used in health care settings. In the past, a number of terms have been used to refer to gowns intended for…
CMS proposes major initiative for total joints
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is planning to require more than 800 hospitals in 75 geographic areas to participate in a bundled payments initiative for hip and knee replacements. These procedures are among the most common that Medicare beneficiaries receive, and prices vary significantly across geographic…
Device manufacturers strengthening product guarantees
Editor's Note Faced with weak demand and falling prices, manufacturers are improving their product warranties and adding cost-sharing guarantees to compensate hospitals if their medical-surgical devices don’t perform as expected, Reuters reports. Among the companies offering the new guarantees are Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and St Jude Medical, which have…
Effect of smoking on postop outcomes
Editor's Note This study found that current and former smoking by surgical patients negatively influenced outcomes following major cardiovascular and oncology procedures. Current smokers had higher odds of overall, pulmonary, wound, and septic/shock complications compared with nonsmokers. The odds of having adverse outcomes were significantly lower in former smokers, but…
Study: Mammograms don’t reduce breast cancer mortality
Editor's Note Mammography for detection of breast cancer does not reduce the number of deaths from the disease and may lead to overdiagnosis, this study finds. Researchers analyzed data of more than 16 million women in 547 countries in 2000 and followed them for 10 years. The results showed a…
CMS releases CY 2016 proposed physician payment rule
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on July 8 released its proposed rule for the physician fee schedule for CY 2016. Physicians will have a 0.5% overall increase in Medicare reimbursement under the rule, which will be finalized this fall. The rule also calls for reimbursement for…
Surgical resident work hours reform does not improve patient safety
Editor's Note Work-hour restrictions for surgical resident, revised nationally 4 years ago to protect patients against fatigue-related errors, have not had the desired effect of lowering postoperative complication rates, according to this new study. Researchers from the American College of Surgeons found no significant difference in surgical outcomes between 1…
Nurses key to Kaiser Permanente quality
Editor's Note New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing shows patient and nurse outcomes in Kaiser Permanente hospitals were significantly better than other hospitals. Differences in nursing explained a significant proportion of Kaiser’s outcomes advantages. The researchers found that Kaiser hospitals have significantly better nurse work environments,…
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- 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