Report: Sicker surgical patients fared better post-pandemic
Editor's Note Hospitals achieved a substantial reduction in mortality risk for surgical inpatients between 2019 and 2024, even as patients grew sicker and stayed longer, according to a report released August 5 by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Vizient. In the first quarter of 2024, hospitalized surgical patients were…
Nearly half of hospital patient harm events go unreported, OIG reveals
Editor's Note Nearly half of hospital harm events—particularly surgical events—were not captured by reporting systems, according to a July 30 TechTarget report on new findings from the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG report examined 299 harm events experienced by a nationally representative sample of 770 Medicare patients discharged…
Patient falls, wrong surgeries, care delays lead rise in sentinel events
Editor's Note Sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission increased by 12% in 2024, with patient falls once again leading the list of serious adverse events followed by wrong surgeries. The Joint Commission released the data in an annual review July 9. Wrong surgery events increased 13% from the…
Hidden head injury hazards expose cracks in OR safety culture
One of the most sobering moments in the career of anesthesiologist Cornelius Sullivan, MD, occurred not as a caretaker in the OR, but as a patient in the emergency department. Having been knocked out cold by a low-hanging monitor during a surgical procedure at Boston Children’s Hospital, he had to…
Poor documentation, positioning top risks in perioperative malpractice cases
Editor's Note Failure to document thoroughly, position patients safely, and follow facility policies are leading causes of malpractice claims against perioperative nurses, according to an analysis published in the AORN Journal on May 28. Although physicians are more frequently named in malpractice suits, nurses are the primary provider responsible in…
Partnership with Epic fuels ASA’s push for smarter, safer anesthesia
Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has partnered with Epic to launch the Anesthesia Community Registry (ACR), which is designed to enable easier data collection, benchmarking, and insight generation at scale. Powered by Epic’s new Community Registries platform, the ACR will complement ASA’s existing National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes…
CDC communication breakdown raises public health risk
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has gone largely silent under new federal oversight, stalling disease alerts, halting newsletters, and freezing social media updates even as outbreaks and chronic health issues persist across the US. NPR reported the news May 21. As detailed in the article,…
AHA urges HHS to cut regulations that burden hospitals and staff
Editor's Note The American Hospital Association (AHA) has called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to eliminate or ease a variety of federal regulations, arguing that excessive administrative rules drive up costs, reduce patient access, and hinder innovation, Modern Healthcare reported May 13. According to the article,…
Tenet, HCA post strong Q1 results, but caution looms over policy uncertainty, outpatient trends
Editor's Note Tenet Healthcare and HCA Healthcare delivered robust first-quarter (Q1) earnings, bolstered by steady inpatient demand and operational discipline—but both hospital giants are treading carefully amid policy and market uncertainties, according to earnings reports covered by Healthcare Dive on April 28 and Trading View on April 29. Tenet reported…
Fresh tools, talking points drive sharps safety culture shift
Takeaways • The prevalence of needlesticks and other sharp object injuries to OR team members is 42.8%, an increase of 16% over the past decade. • New research and perspectives are shaping the discourse around sharps safety, such as new and expanded evidence-based practices presented in AORN’s 2025 update to…
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