Editor's Note ECRI Institute on December 12 issued its list of Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2018. The list, which is available for free (registration required), identifies sources of technology dangers or difficulties and details steps to minimize the occurrence of adverse events. Topping the list is ransomware and…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 1 issued a Safety Alert for human albumin 25% solution (AlbuRx 25) by CSL Behring LLC (Kankakee, Illinois). During routine inspection, the company noted the potential for fading print on 50 mL and 100 mL vials, with more effect on…

Read More

A new study by Ofstead & Associates (St Paul, Minnesota) is the latest to raise concerns about infections associated with endoscopic procedures. The study, which focused on ureteroscopes, found that the techniques used to clean and sterilize or high-level disinfect flexible ureteroscopes are not sufficient and leave behind contamination including…

Read More

Perioperative services leaders seeking to improve safety and efficiency without sacrificing quality may want to turn to remote video auditing (RVA), which is being successfully used in hospital ORs and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). “We’ve seen improved patient safety, efficiency, and cleaning processes,” says Sheldon Newman, MD, executive vice chairman…

Read More

Violence is much more common in healthcare than in other industries, and although many violent events in healthcare are perpetrated by patients, a notable percentage are not. Individuals other than patients who may cause violence in healthcare settings include family members of patients and other visitors, employees, and criminals. Many…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 31 issued a Safety Alert saying that interim study results continue to show an increased rate of major adverse cardiac events and Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) thrombosis in patients receiving the Absorb GT1 BVS by Abbott Vascular (Abbott Park, Illinois),…

Read More

Every week Ann Shimek, MSN, BSN, RN, CASC, hits the road to communicate about communicating. Shimek is senior vice president of clinical operations at United Surgical Partners International (USPI) in Addison, Texas. She and her team of six clinical nurses travel among USPI’s 21 hospitals and 260 ambulatory surgery centers…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 27 announced an update to its business rules that determine the number of days the Life Safety Code surveyor will be part of a hospital’s survey. The changes, which will take effect January 1, 2018, include: Only square footage will be used to…

Read More

Editor's Note In this large multi-site study, bariatric surgery was associated with a lower risk of cancer, particularly obesity-associated cancers, such as postmenopausal breast cancer, endometrial cancer, and colon cancer. The study included five study sites with 22,198 patients who had bariatric surgery and 66,427 nonsurgical matched subjects. At a…

Read More

Editor's Note Research from Spok Inc found 71% of hospitals allow physicians and nurses to use their own electronic devices at work, compared with 58% last year, the September 21 Healthcare Informatics reports. The researchers also found that: 38% of physicians favored having a hospital-issued device, and they use an…

Read More