Editor's Note Poor sleep, missed meals, less physical activity, and stress during hospitalization was associated with a greater risk of 30-day readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits, in this Canadian study. In this analysis of 207 patients, 75 (36.2%) reported sleep disturbance, 162 (78.3%) reported mobility disturbance, 114 (55.1%) reported…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 27 launched a new online tool that compares Medicare payments and co-payments for certain outpatient surgical procedures performed in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. The “Procedure Price Lookup” tool will help Medicare patients consider potential cost differences when…

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Editor's Note Survey data from thousands of nurses and patients shows that patient safety remains a serious concern and that failure to improve hospital work environments may be hampering progress, finds this study by Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Of 53,644…

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Editor's Note Becoming more sensitive to pain (ie, pain sensitization) is an important risk factor for developing persistent knee pain in osteoarthritis, this study finds. Researchers followed 852 patients over 2 years who had or were at risk of knee osteoarthritis but were free of persistent pain at the beginning…

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Editor's Note Most complications of colorectal resection steadily decreased and early hospital discharges increased over 10 years of participation in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), finds this study presented October 24 at the American College of Surgeons 2018 Clinical Congress in Boston. Of…

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Editor's Note The Leapfrog Group announced October 16 that it would expand its public reporting to outpatient settings. For the first time, Leapfrog will collect quality and safety data on ambulatory surgery centers through a new voluntary survey, and hospital outpatient surgery departments will report data through a new section…

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Editor's Note Physical activity may attenuate the risk of mortality associated with frailty in old age, this study finds. In this analysis of data on 3,896 adults aged 60 and older during a median of 14 years of follow-up, physical activity was associated with lower mortality in prefrail and frail…

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Editor's Note Zimmer Biomet and Apple Inc have begun a multiyear study that will allow surgeons to use Apple Watches to monitor activities, including heart rate, steps taken, and standing hours of up to 100,000 patients before and after hip and knee replacement surgery, the October 15 Reuters reports. Providers…

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Mandatory implementation of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Survey (OAS CAHPS) originally scheduled for 2018 has been delayed, but that does not mean it should be ignored, say ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders. The earliest projected date when the survey could become mandatory…

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Editor's Note Despite concerns about addiction and side effects of opioids, patients still expect them to be prescribed and believe them to be the most effective for postoperative pain relief, finds this study presented October 13 at the Anesthesiology 2018 annual meeting in San Francisco. Researchers gave a 13-question survey…

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