Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on February 5 announced the launch of its Coronavirus Outbreak Preparedness Center, which was developed to help hospitals protect healthcare workers and patients as the coronavirus spreads across the world. Included in this free compendium of resources are: Preparation and patient handling checklists Equipment and…

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Editor's Note The US healthcare industry should prepare for a disruption in the supply chain for disposable medical-surgical devices and high-tech therapeutic and diagnostic products from China amid the coronavirus outbreak, the January 31 Modern Healthcare reports. Data show that devices and diagnostic products from China account for about 3%…

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Editor's Note Medline Industries has not operated its Waukegan, Illinois, sterilization facility since December 13, 2019, when it was temporarily closed because it couldn’t meet Illinois’ new state standards for ethylene oxide, the January 21 MedTech Dive reports. A Lake County Health Department update on January 17 says Medline began…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 16 announced that Cardinal Health has alerted it customers to potential quality issues affecting some of its Level 3 surgical gowns and PreSource procedural packs that contain the gowns. Cardinal Health and the FDA recommend that customers immediately discontinue use…

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Editor's Note A survey by IMV Medical Information Division finds that the number of MRI procedures performed in the US rose 8% from 39 million in 2018 to an all-time high of some 42 million in 2019, the January 15 AuntMinnie.com reports. A total of 17% of respondents gave high…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration has granted 510(k) clearance to Aidoc (Tel Aviv) for its artificial intelligence (AI)-based system for large-vessel occlusion detection−ischaemic strokes that result from a blockage in one of the major arteries of the brain, the January 14 Verdict Medical Devices reports. The system’s AI…

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Editor's Note Royal Philips has issued an urgent field safety notice for its CombiDiagnost R90 GCF fluoroscopy system, the January 10 MassDevice reports. When the tilting feature is used, the device could be locked in a “Table Up/Down” state, an issue that could result in the entry of contrast agent…

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Editor's Note This study finds that robotic surgery increased dramatically from 2012 to 2018 and has diffused widely across a broad range of common procedures. This trend was associated with a decrease in the use of open and laparoscopic minimally invasive procedures. In this analysis of 169,404 patients in 73…

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Surgeons often are eager to acquire the newest technology, particularly right after attending a conference with a vendor-packed exhibit hall. How can OR leaders weigh surgeon demands with organizational cost constraints to ensure they meet patient needs while being fiscally responsible? The first step is to acknowledge the complexity of…

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Approximately 5.9 million tons of waste annually comes from the healthcare industry, and one-third of that waste comes directly from the OR. Each year, an increasing number of disposable products are used in the OR. To address this dilemma, an OR recycling performance improvement committee was formed at Massachusetts General…

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