Editor's Note In this retrospective study, researchers from the French Society of Neuroradiology found three main brain MRI patterns in patients with severe COVID-19. The analysis of 37 patients from 16 centers found: signal abnormalities in the medial temporal lobe (43%), an area of the brain related to cognitive and…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced June 17 that it has resumed limited survey activities this month, and that scoring of items that are not compliant will not be the primary focus during the COVID-19 public health emergency. However, the Joint Commission says, there are several elements of performance (EPs)…
Resuming elective surgical procedures is critical for recovering revenue lost during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and treating patients whose health may have been compromised while awaiting surgery. Timetables and protocols for resuming those procedures tend to differ by facility, but OR leaders nationwide feel that “we’re all…
Hospitals nationwide have thousands of unique instrument trays that take up valuable space on their shelves. Many trays are cluttered with rarely used instruments that are there “just in case.” The problem can be particularly acute in large health systems. Across Cleveland Clinic’s multiple locations in northeast Ohio, for example,…
As state authorities begin to ease restrictions imposed by COVID-19, physicians, nurse leaders, and administrators face a momentous challenge: resuming elective surgical procedures that have been postponed for several weeks or months. How will they accommodate the looming glut of elective surgery demand with limited infrastructure and staff who are…
While responding to demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, perioperative leaders are busy preparing staff and departments for life after the initial shock subsides. Chief among their preparations are strategies to address the glut of demand for surgery due to postponement of elective and nonessential surgical procedures. Naturally, many focus on…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Seema Verma says use of telehealth has grown dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some provisions that were extended temporarily will be made permanent, the June 2 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. During the pandemic, CMS expanded access to telehealth…
Editor's Note: The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), American Hospital Association (AHA), and Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) on May 19 released a “Re-entry Guidance for Health Care Facilities and Medical Device Representatives.” The guidance, which builds on the April 17 joint statement by AORN, AHA, American College of…
Editor's Note In this study, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; King’s College, London; and health science company Zoe Global, Accra, Ghana; developed an artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostic that can predict whether someone is likely to have COVID-19 based on their symptoms. The researchers analyzed data from 2,618,862 people…
It’s been said we live in a sharing economy: We share our homes through companies like Airbnb, and we share our cars through companies like Uber and Lyft. So it’s not surprising that organizations are now sharing equipment, including OR equipment, with positive results. For example, Kaiser Permanente Southern California…