Editor's Note As staffing remains a top point of concern for healthcare leaders, OhioHealth, Columbus, Ohio, and Columbus State Community College, announced a partnership to invest $120 million into training healthcare professionals in five fields on June 27. The joint venture will double the number of students in nursing, surgical…
Editor's Note This multi-center study led by Humana Inc, Louisville, Kentucky, finds that a bundled payment program offered by a Medicare Advantage insurer for lower extremity joint replacements was associated with reduced spending without changes in quality. A total of 23,034 lower extremity joint replacement surgical episodes (6,355 bundled, 16,679…
Editor's Note The Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), on June 26, announced the creation of the APIC Health Equity Fund, which will help underwrite the cost of infection prevention and control (IPC) tools and resources for underserved communities in the US. For the first 3 years, the fund…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on June 26, identified the recall by Teleflex, and their subsidiary Arrow International, of the Arrow Endurance Extended Dwell Peripheral Catheter System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk of catheter separation and leakage. If…
Editor's Note This study by nurse researchers at the Cleveland Clinic examines the usability of a lounge designed to support critical care nurses in refreshing and renewing themselves after stressful clinical situations. Of 54 nurses surveyed: 31 (57%) said they used the lounge within the past month. Facilitators of lounge…
Editor's Note A new survey released June 21 by Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence finds that up to 60% of employees are considering switching to new jobs because stress at work is hurting their mental (58%), physical (63%), social (45%), or financial (35%) well-being. The survey also finds that three in…
Editor's Note The annual Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard on State Health System Performance, released June 22, finds an increase in preventable deaths in all states in 2021, especially among Blacks and American Indian/Alaska Native people, and a nearly two-fold increase in maternal mortality from 2018 to 2021. Massachusetts, Hawaii, and New…
Editor's Note On Friday, June 16, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) alerted the healthcare sector of a recent ransomware attack on a US cancer center that “reduced cancer treatment capability, rendered digital services unavailable, and threatened exposure of patient personal health information,” the American Hospital Association (AHA)…
Editor's Note This study by researchers at Steris, Mentor, Ohio, finds that flushing flexible endoscope channels with reduced concentrations of alcohol may prevent microbial outgrowth while reducing drying time. Among the findings: Flushing endoscope channels with isopropyl alcohol (70%-30% concentration) prevented Pseudomonas aeruginosa outgrowth during storage. A 70% alcohol concentration…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on June 21, announced that there is still time to comment on its proposed new Infection Control (IC) chapter requirements for hospitals and critical access hospitals. The goal of revising the chapter is to align the IC standards and elements of performance more closely with…