Editor's Note Most elderly hip fractures occur during warm months, and a greater number happen indoors rather than out, finds this study presented October 23 at the Anesthesiology 2017 annual meeting in Boston. In this analysis of 544 hip fracture patients treated at The Hospital of Central Connecticut from 2013…

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Editor's Note All-cause readmission is the only metric in widespread use, but it overlooks important information that enables readmission risk to be understood, this study finds. Of 514,455 patients in the UK analyzed over a 10-year period, there were 30,489 all-cause readmissions, 16,499 readmissions related to the surgical site, and…

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Editor's Note Physical activity in total joint patients did not change at 6 months after surgery and small-moderate improvement was found at 12 months, despite large improvements in pain and quality of life, this meta-analysis finds. A total of seven studies (336 patients) were analyzed. Reasons for the lack of…

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Editor's Note In this meta-analysis of the effectiveness of nonpharmacological interventions for pain after total knee arthroplasty, electrotherapy and acupuncture were associated with reduced and delayed opioid consumption, but there was low or very low certainty that they improved pain. Continuous passive motion and preoperative exercise did not improve pain…

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Organizations that have adopted the perioperative surgical home (PSH) model of patient care have reaped the benefits of improved outcomes and a healthier bottom line. In particular, the PSH has a proven track record for colorectal surgery and orthopedic surgery. In part 1 of this two-part series (OR Manager, August…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 15 announced a proposed rule that would cancel two bundled-payment models and reduce the number of providers required to participate in a third. The proposed rule would cancel the Episode Payment Models and the Cardiac Rehabilitation incentive payment…

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Editor's Note With the growth of ambulatory surgeries and the shift to Medicare reimbursement for outpatient hip and knee replacements, hospitals are acquiring and forming joint ventures with ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), the August 5 Modern Healthcare reports. This allows hospitals to keep part of the revenue and better aligns…

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Editor's Note This population-based analysis finds that implementation of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) interventions in total joint patients is limited, with some current trends virtually in contrast to practice guidelines. Of more than 1 million patients analyzed, anesthetic techniques did not differ by OSA status, and overall, less than 25%…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on July 13 issued a proposed rule that updates payment rates and policy changes in the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System. Among the proposals are that Medicare pay for knee replacement procedures performed in outpatient…

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Editor's Note A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) compares the effectiveness of strategies to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients having total hip replacement (THR), total knee replacement (TKR), or hip fracture surgery. The study directly compares different types of blood thinners and mechanical…

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