Editor's Note The longer time a screening colonoscopy takes, the less risk of developing cancer within 5 years, this study finds. Patients whose screenings were performed by physicians whose average colonoscopy times lasted less than 6 minutes were twice as likely to develop colon cancer within 5 years as those…
In the dangerous world of hospital-acquired infections, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) patient infections associated with the use of duodenoscopes has proven to be a substantial concern for healthcare facilities and patients. Several large-scale outbreaks in the last year have prompted questions about the safety of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) endoscopy procedures,…
Distractions detract from OR teamwork Distractions in the OR are associated with higher mental workload and stress and poorer teamwork among OR personnel, a study finds. The most prevalent distractions were those from external staff, followed by case-irrelevant conversations. Case-irrelevant conversations initiated by surgeons were associated with lower teamwork in…
Editor's Note Deaths, hospital stays, and spending all decreased for Medicare patients from 1999 to 2013, this study finds. In 1999, the all-cause mortality rate was 5.3%, and by 2013 that rate had fallen to 4.5%. Hospitalizations decreased from around 35,000 per 100,000 annually to 27,000 per 100,000. Inpatient inflation-adjusted…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary estimates that healthcare spending will grow an average of 5.8% each year from 2014 to 2024. The estimate is higher than the projection of 5.7% made a year ago. Prior to the Affordable Care Act in 2014,…
Editor's Note There are no federal regulations or quality measures that address cell phone use in the OR, but some say the time for clear-cut guidelines has come. They cite errors and lax safety procedures that have resulted from physicians and nurses distracted by cell phone use. But others point…
Editor's Note Faced with weak demand and falling prices, manufacturers are improving their product warranties and adding cost-sharing guarantees to compensate hospitals if their medical-surgical devices don’t perform as expected, Reuters reports. Among the companies offering the new guarantees are Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and St Jude Medical, which have…
Patients who are readmitted after major surgical procedures have improved survival if they return to the same hospital where their surgery took place, finds a study. Readmission to the index hospital was associated with a 26% lower 90-day mortality risk than readmission to a non-index hospital. These findings may have…
Background: In an effort to measure and improve the quality of perioperative care, the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) was introduced in 2003. Methods: The authors retrospectively analyzed the electronic medical record data from 45,304 inpatients at a single institution to assess whether compliance with SCIP Inf-10 (body temperature management)…
As the anesthesiologist places the mask on the little girl’s face, the circulating nurse snaps a photograph and sends it to her parents’ cell phone with a caption saying, “she is safely off to sleep.” The nurse continues to send photographs and videos of the girl’s heart procedure along with…