Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on January 29 issued a proposed rule that will allow organizations approved as qualified entities to confidentially share or sell analyses of Medicare and private claims data to health care providers, employers, and others. The Qualified Entity Program, authorized by the…
Editor's Note Hospitals that more often refer patients to inpatient facilities (eg, skilled nursing homes or rehabilitation centers) after surgery also tend to have shorter lengths of stay and higher readmission rates, this study finds. Researchers analyzed data for nearly 113,000 patients treated at 217 hospitals in 39 states. Higher…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 27 announced that applications for its new Patient Blood Management Certification are now being accepted. The goal of the certification is to assist hospitals in implementing practices to help eliminate unnecessary transfusions and adverse outcomes. The certification is valid for 2 years. …
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 27 classified the recall of St Jude Medical’s (St Paul, Minnesota) Optisure Dual Coil Defibrillation Leads as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a manufacturing error that may have damaged the insulation layer of one…
Editor's Note Two home visits by a physician assistant (PA) in the week after discharge significantly reduced the chance that a cardiac surgery patient would be readmitted, finds this study presented January 26 at the annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Of 1,185 patients analyzed, those who received…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on January 26 published Quick Safety #20, “Strategies to prevent URFOs.” This Quick Safety builds on Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 51, released October 2013, which addressed the prevention of unintended retained foreign objects (URFOs). URFOs were the most frequent sentinel event reported to the Joint…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 27 announced that Baxter (Deerfield, Illinois) is recalling four lots of IV solutions because of the potential for leaking containers and particulate matter. The recall affects the following: 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP, 100 mL in Mini-Bag Plus Container (lot…
Editor's Note A positive safety and teamwork culture and engaged hospital management were associated with lower surgical site infection (SSI) rates after colon surgery in this study. Researchers, led by Martin Makary, MD, from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, measured 12 dimensions of safety culture and colon SSI rates in surgical…
Editor's Note Last year, government regulators blocked large companies that employ many low-wage workers from claiming that insurance coverage with no inpatient hospital benefits met the Affordable Care Act’s rules. These same companies are now purporting to meet the rules with plans that exclude outpatient surgery, the January 21 Washington Post…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 26 published draft guidance for “Design considerations and premarket submission recommendations for interoperable medical devices” to assist medical device manufacturers in designing products that are interoperable and can securely share data. The draft includes factors to consider when developing the…
