Editor's Note ECRI Institute announced December 15 that it is providing an abridged version of its 2017 Top 10 list of health technology hazards as a free public service to inform healthcare facilities about important safety issues involving the use of medical devices and systems. Among the hazards are: inadequate…

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Editor's Note Mount Sinai Health System (New York City) on December 6 announced its Medical Modeling Core, a collaboration led by the neurosurgery department, where clinicians can order 3D models for their cases. Virtual reality, simulation, and 3D printing services will be provided with quick turnaround times and at significant…

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Editor's Note Chicacgo-area hospitals are using apps to help patients prepare for and recover from surgery and communicate their symptoms, the November 30 Chicago Tribune reports. Amita Health is now using the TapCloud app with good results−of 309 orthopedic patients who have used the app, none have had to be…

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Editor's Note Though the use of 3D printing is not new in radiology, its adoption has increased as the technology has matured, the November 9 Health Data Management reports. The value of the printer is the ability to create a model of a body part before a surgical procedure−to hold…

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Editor's Note ECRI Institute (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania) on November 7 released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2017. Several are specific to the OR. Topping the list is infusion errors, followed by inadequate cleaning of complex reusable instruments. Infection risks with heater-cooler devices used in cardiac surgery is fifth,…

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Editor's Note Harvard researchers have created the first 3-D printed heart-on-a-chip capable of collecting data on how reliably a heart is beating, and how a heart responds to drugs and toxins, the October 25 Gizmodo reports. The 3-D printed organ is made of synthetic material designed to mimic the structure…

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Editor's Note Monitoring patients’ postoperative functional recovery using a commercially available, wireless activity tracker is feasible and strongly correlates with complications reported by patients, finds a study presented October 17 at the 2016 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. The median number of steps that patients took on…

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Editor's Note Denver Health was awarded a nearly $232,000 federal grant to expand its text messaging program, the October 13 Denver Post reports. The system will use the grant to link text messages directly to patients’ electronic health records so physicians can see patients’ texts on their medical charts. Denver…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on October 11 issued a Safety Alert for implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) by St Jude Medical (Little Canada, Minnesota). In some cases, full battery drainage can occur in a day to a few weeks after the patient…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on October 12 launched a new Twitter account, which will be led by the Media Relations Group in Washington, DC. @CMSgovPress will promote CMS news as it happens, offering members of the media and the public the opportunity to receive…

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