Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on October 20, announced a new Quick Safety—“Organization-wide cybersecurity: Creating a culture of defense.” Cybersecurity can no longer be viewed as just the province of the IT department. It must be the responsibility of all staff that have access to digital information, electronic health…
Editor's Note This study by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, identifies three themes centered on trust and addressing barriers to COVID-19 vaccine access in Black and Latinx communities in the US. The study involved 72 participants—56 women, 16 men, 36 Black, 28 Latinx, and 8…
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is seeking comments on workplace and occupational safety and health interventions to prevent work-associated stress, support stress reduction, and foster positive mental health and well-being among healthcare workers. Examples of interventions include employee…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 12 announced that it will implement new and revised Performance Improvement (PI) and Leadership (LD) accreditation standards for its Laboratory Accreditation Program, effective January 1, 2022. The revisions factor in two common themes of organizations with successful improvement programs: Adoption of an established…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 6 identified the recall by Imperative Care Inc of its ZOOM 71 Reperfusion Catheter as Class I, the most serious. The ZOOM 71 Reperfusion Catheter is used to remove blood clots from a patient’s brain within 8 hours of an…
Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that the percentage of US adults with anxiety and depression symptoms increased nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 19, 2020 to June 7, 2021). Using US Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey (HPS) data, the CDC found that…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on October 6, announced that it has begun using a hybrid approach with a document review surveyor during deemed hospital re-accreditation surveys meeting eligibility criteria, primarily a fully electronic health record (EHR). The hybrid approach consists of a surveyor working remotely (via Zoom or Microsoft…
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, find that hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) targeted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) declined after the program was announced, but 30-day mortality was unchanged. The analysis included 8,857,877 Medicare beneficiaries…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on September 23, identified the recall by Armstrong Medical of certain lots of its Amsorb Plus Prefilled G-Can 1.0L canisters as Class I, the most serious. Amsorb Plus is a chemical substance used in anesthesia machines to absorb carbon dioxide the patient…
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, find that more healthcare workers (HCWs) were exposed to COVID-19 by coworkers than patients, and lapses in infection prevention practices increased transmission risk. Between June and December 2020, 2,357 HCWs were involved in occupational…
