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…
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…
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 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…
Federal regulators have yet to mandate electronic health record (EHR) adoption at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Many facilities remain content to use paper systems. However, one expert advocates preparing now for what may come in the future. Electronic documentation systems can help ASCs better achieve their clinical, financial, operational, and…
Editor's Note A new study from researchers in Hong Kong finds that the MAIL2.0 nowcast artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, which was developed with concepts used in economics and meteorology, yields a high level of accuracy for identifying COVID-19 in chest x-rays, the May 5 AuntMinny.com reports. The algorithm yielded 84.7%…
Editor's Note Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago are using artificial intelligence (AI) to expedite the search for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines by shortening the expert review period. The AI tool prioritizes research that has the most potential to produce real solutions and ignores research that is unlikely to yield…
Editor's Note An artificial intelligence (AI) tool that analyzes CT scans of the chest was 75% accurate in determining COVID-19 patients who required ventilators, the April Radiology Business reports. Researchers at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University built the tool using scans and datasets from the web, COVID-19 chest images from…
Editor's Note: A research team led by the University of Singapore has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called, “IDentif.AI” (Indentifying Infectious Disease Combination Therapy with Artificial Intelligence) to increase efficiency in the development of treatments that combine several different drugs. The researchers selected 12 drugs that are viable candidates…
Editor's Note: Epic’s deterioration index, an artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning-based system that can predict which patients with COVID-19 could become seriously ill, has been put into use at hospitals nationwide, the April 24 STAT reports. Though normally hospitals would take weeks or months to test a new tool on…