Editor's Note Total hip replacement patients experience meaningful and lasting improvement in quality of life (QOL) through at least 5-years after the procedure, this study finds. The analysis included 188 total hip replacement patients at seven hospitals who were evaluated with a standard quality-of-life assessment, called the “Short Form 36,”…

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Editor's Note This study validates a methodology, using the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) risk calculator, to identify patients with a high risk of 30-day mortality after elective surgery who may benefit from referral for tertiary care. The methodology predicted that 16% (90 of 565) of patients would…

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Editor's Note The use of inpatient rehabilitation compared with a monitored home-based program did not improve mobility at 26 weeks after total knee surgery, this study finds. In the study, 81 patients received 10 days of hospital inpatient rehabilitation followed by an 8-week home-based program, and 87 patients received only…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on March 13 released its 2017 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations. This year’s list includes: Information management in electronic health records Unrecognized patient deterioration Implementation and use of clinical decision support Test result reporting and follow-up Antimicrobial stewardship Patient identification Opioid administration…

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Editor's Note The Coalition for Quality in Geriatric Surgery (CQGS) developed high-quality, valid standards to improve surgical care in the older adult, this study finds. A total of 306 of 308 standards developed were rated as valid to improve quality of geriatric surgery, 290 were rated as feasible, and 18…

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Editor's Note Opting out of the Medicare rule that requires anesthesia to be administered with physician supervision has little or no effect on access to inpatient or outpatient surgery, this study finds. The researchers also found that opting out does not reduce costs, and in fact increases costs for inpatient…

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Editor's Note Healthgrades (Denver) on February 24 released its list of America’s 50 and 100 Best Hospitals for 2017. The top 50 represent 1% of all hospitals and are located in 22 states. California has the most at 10, followed by Illinois with 7. The top 100 hospitals are those…

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Editor's Note The success rates of pediatric kidney transplants have significantly improved over the past 50 years, with young children now experiencing better long-term transplant success than adults, this study finds. Of 1,056 pediatric kidney transplant recipients analyzed, 85% were alive at 1 year after surgery 50 years ago, compared…

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Editor's Note Anastomotic leaks and postoperative ileus had significantly higher associations with 30-day patient outcomes after colon resection than surgical site infections (SSIs), urinary tract infections, and venous thromboembolism, this study finds. In 26,682 patients undergoing colon resection, the most common postoperative complications were ileus (11.8%), bleeding (7.6%), and incisional…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) in collaboration with Johns Hopkins has launched a new multimillion dollar surgical quality improvement initiative funded and guided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The new program will enable hospitals to implement Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) protocols, which have…

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