Editor's Note The Massachusetts ballot Question 1 that would have set strict limits on the number of hospital patients a nurse could care for at one time went down in defeat on November 6, the November 7 Boston Globe reports. Hospitals spent nearly $25 million to defeat the measure, more…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 14 announced that the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) has launched a new initiative for US hospitals to complete their attestation when renewing their NPDB registrations. The NPDB is a repository of reports on medical malpractice payments and adverse actions related to healthcare…

Read More

Editor's Note New York is the first state to require new nurses to obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher in nursing within 10 years of initial licensure, the January 2 HealthLeaders Media reports. The legislation takes effect immediately; however, the degree requirement does not start for 30 months. The new…

Read More

Editor's Note Under a bill approved unanimously December 5 by the Florida Senate Health Policy Committee, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) could treat patients overnight, the December 6 WUSF News reports. Before approving the bill (SB 250), sponsored by Sen Greg Steube (R-Sarasota), the committee agreed to an amendment requiring the…

Read More

Editor's Note The burden and bureaucracy of today’s practice of medicine are major factors influencing physicians’ intentions to reduce work hours or leave the profession, finds this study from the American Medical Association, Mayo Clinic, and Stanford University. Of nearly 36,000 physicians across all specialties surveyed, 6,880 (19.2%) responded. Nearly 1…

Read More

Editor's Note On October 24, 179 House members (including 43 Democrats) signed a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis) calling for repeal of the medical device tax, the October 25 issue of The Hill reports. The medical device tax, which was included in the Affordable Care Act to help pay…

Read More

Editor's Note A bipartisan group of 24 US Representatives sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, MD, on May 26 asking him to use his statutory authority to move ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to…

Read More

Editor's Note The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2017 (HR 1838/S 1001) has added new cosponsors in the US House of Representatives and was introduced in the Senate, the May 23 Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) News Digest reports. Many of the cosponsors signed on as a…

Read More

Editor's Note The US House of Representatives on May 4 passed the American Health Care Act with 217 yes votes; 216 was the number needed. The bill now moves to the Senate. The House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act with a slim majority on Thursday. The bill gives…

Read More

Even before Trump took office, Congress was planning to prepare ACA repeal legislation by January 27. It looked as though action could be swift once key members of the new administration took office. However, The Washington Post’s report of a January 26 meeting of Republican lawmakers indicated they were far…

Read More