Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital penalization in the Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) was not associated with significant changes in rates of hospital acquired conditions (HACs), 30-day readmissions, or 30-day mortality and does not appear to drive meaningful clinical improvements, this study finds.…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on July 9 that it has formed a summit of key industry stakeholders and government leaders to provide insight as the Trump administration seeks to streamline, improve, and align measures used across federal healthcare quality programs. The Quality Summit,…

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Editor's Note Many patients with low back pain also have sleep disorders, which are linked to more healthcare visits and higher costs for back pain treatment, this study finds. In this analysis of 757 patients with low back pain attending self-management classes at a US military hospital, 195 had a…

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Editor's Note In this study, a predictive model that can help identify patients at higher odds for not requiring a prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS) after total hip arthroplasty was developed and validated and a point-based calculator was designed. The calculator included nine variables: age, opioid use, metabolic equivalents…

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Editor's Note Risk-adjusted surgical outcomes vary widely across hospitals within networks that are on the Honor Roll of the US News & World Report, this study finds. In this analysis of 87 hospitals and 143,174 patients, outcomes were not consistently better at Honor Roll hospitals compared with network affiliates. For…

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The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade Report shows some progress in patient safety: an estimated 160,000 avoidable deaths nationwide, down from 205,000 in 2016. But 160,000 is a large number. “There’s still a lot of needless death and harm in American hospitals,” says Leah Binder, Leapfrog’s president and…

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OR leaders spend much of their day ensuring the surgery schedule runs smoothly, a task that depends on the teams within each of the ORs. Highly functioning teams produce optimal results, including good patient outcomes, satisfied surgeons, and efficient use of resources. But developing a highly functional team with good…

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Labor is the most important resource in an OR and must be used effectively to maintain the financial health of an organization and the well-being of patients. “OR leaders need data tools to manage their labor dollars. How do you know if you are doing it well?” asks Sharon Ulep,…

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It is not unusual for OR leaders to perform many different roles: Boss, mentor, coach, facilitator, or participant, to name some. Administrators in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) likewise are tasked with many different responsibilities, often shifting among multiple roles within the same day. With the rapid growth in volume and…

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Editor's Note Physician-to-physician variation in electronic health record (EHR) documentation could result in patient harm and clinical inefficiencies, this study finds. The study by University of Michigan researchers included EHR data from 170,332 encounters led by 809 physicians in 237 practices and interviews with 40 physicians in 10 practices. The…

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