Editor's Note A study led by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, finds use of a timed storage and dispensing device for bulk-packaged electrocardiography (ECG) electrodes significantly improves compliance. The study included seven operating rooms (ORs) that used a bin with an automated countdown timer…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 26, announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirement to count the volume of ventricular assist device (VAD) implants by surgeons will be reinstated on May 11. CMS stopped this requirement during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on April 26, announced updates to the enforcement process for its hospital price transparency rule. CMS will now automatically impose a civil monetary penalty if hospitals do not submit a corrective action plan on time or complete it within 45 days.…

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Editor's Note This study, published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, analyzes 68 closed claims cases on wrong-site surgery from 2013 to 2020. The services most frequently responsible for these cases were: Orthopedics (35.3%) Neurosurgery (22.1%) Urology (8.8%). The most common types of procedures involving wrong-site…

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Editor's Note The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), on April 10, announced the release of updated standards for its 3-year Advanced Orthopaedic Certification program, which will take effect July 1, 2023. The updated Certification Handbook for Advanced Orthopaedics, v42, introduces new terminology and standards architecture plus a revised…

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Editor's Note New research from the American College of Surgeons and American Cancer Society describes ways the National Cancer Database (NCDB) was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the study, researchers reviewed 4,045,097 cancer cases of adults 18 years or older who were diagnosed with cancer and/or received their first-course…

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Editor's Note In response to questions, on April 21, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided an update to its Safety Communication that enables the use of existing inventory of the O&M Halyard FLUIDSHIELD Surgical N95 Respirator Masks, Orange (Regular), Level 3, (Model 46727). The FDA recommends that, if necessary,…

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Editor's Note The US State Department will not accept any more applications for green cards for foreign nurses this year, and only applications that were submitted by June 2022 will be processed until the backlog eases, the April 24 Becker’s Clinical Leadership & Infection Control reports. Current green card processing…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 19, posted the Top 5 requirements and corresponding elements of performance (EPs) identified most frequently as “not compliant” during surveys and reviews in 2022. The Top 5 for Hospitals have to do with: Implementing infection control activities when performing intermediate and high-level disinfection…

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Editor's Note In a letter, the American Hospitals Association, on April 19, announced its support for the reintroduction of the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act (H.R. 2584), which would give healthcare workers legal protections against assault and intimidation similar to that of flight crews and airport workers. The…

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