‘SMART Toolkit’ empowers healthcare leaders with actionable strategies to reduce HAIs
Editor's Note A new digital resource is helping hospital leaders strengthen infection prevention efforts by focusing not just on bedside protocols, but on management strategies proven to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The “SMART Toolkit,” developed by researchers at The Ohio State University and launched in July 2022, offers a free,…
Medicaid data shared with DHS to aid immigration enforcement
Editor's Note The Trump administration ordered federal health officials this week to share personal data from Medicaid enrollees with deportation authorities, the Associated Press (AP) reported June 14. According to the report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to transfer enrollee…
Perioperative nurses are at the heart of robotic surgery’s rapid rise
Editor's Note As robotic-assisted surgery continues to expand across specialties, perioperative nurses are driving operational excellence, clinical outcomes, and team coordination—often serving as the linchpin of these high-tech surgical programs. According to an April 16 article from the Cleveland Clinic, the health system’s robotic surgery program illustrates how nurses are…
NIH staff revolt, new analysis affirm the critical role and vulnerability of US academic science
Editor's Note Several hundred National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees have issued a rare internal rebuke of the agency’s current leadership under Director Jay Bhattacharya, STAT June 9 reports. The open letter, dubbed the “Bethesda Declaration,” criticizes abrupt Trump-era policy changes, including the cancellation of health equity and LGBTQ+ research,…
Amid outbreaks, vaccine policy shifts, experts offer practical strategies to safeguard OR staff
Vaccine health has been dominating the news amid ongoing measles and whooping cough outbreaks and high influenza activity last season. It is also on the minds of The Joint Commission surveyors, as the organization has updated infection control standards that took effect in July 2024 for hospitals and critical access…
Study: Pneumonia risk lower for COVID-19 than influenza, RSV
Editor's Note Influenza and RSV infections more than double the risk of secondary Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, while COVID-19 is associated with a significantly reduced risk, according to a June 2 news brief from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). The findings stem from a retrospective study of…
Significant CMS moves include withdrawal of emergency abortion care guidance
Editor's Note CMS has rescinded a 2022 guidance that protected clinicians providing emergency abortion care under the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), removing a key federal safeguard for providers in states with abortion restrictions, according to a June 2 article in Becker’s Hospital Review. The guidance, originally issued…
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…
Study: Blood test detects colorectal cancer but misses most precancerous polyps
Editor's Note A new blood test shows promise in detecting colorectal cancer—the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US—but was less effective at identifying precancerous polyps, according to a June 2 announcement from Kaiser Permanente. Not yet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the test is…
Painkiller without opioid risks shows potential in animal trials
Editor's Note An experimental compound developed at Duke University School of Medicine provides strong pain relief without the side effects or addiction potential of opioids, according to a May 19 announcement from the university. Known as SBI-810, the drug targets a specific receptor in the nervous system and uses a…
Free Daily News
- Hospital margins improve as outpatient revenue accelerates, but costs loom
- Breast cancer surgery delays tied to higher upstaging, faster tumor growth
- Exercise programs ease stress and burnout for nurses, review finds
- WHO and robotic surgery society partner to expand global access to telesurgery
- Health systems lean toward established partners for AI adoption
- Immigration raids are driving patients back to telehealth and ERs
- Study: Global access to surgery deemed a crisis, leaves 160 million without care
- Large-scale studies link preoperative cognition to delirium risk, reveal its deadly toll after surgery
- Socioeconomic deprivation linked to lower fitness before surgery, UK study finds
- Perioperative medication decisions need individualized risk-benefit approach