Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 14, issued Sentinel Event Alert 63: Optimizing smart infusion pump safety with DERS [dose error reduction software]. Though smart infusion pumps combine computer technology and drug libraries (stored in DERS) to limit the potential for dosing errors, errors still occur each year. Bypassing…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, find that ambulatory surgery offers significant cost savings and generally superior 30-day outcomes compared to inpatient surgery. Of 73,724 patients having hernia repair, primary total or partial thyroidectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, or laparoscopic appendectomy in…

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Editor's Note A 12-month investigation by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News finds that more than 3,600 US healthcare workers (HCWs) died from COVID-19 during the pandemic’s first year, the April 8 Kaiser Health News reports. Key findings include: People of color accounted for two-thirds of deaths. Risk of death…

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Editor's Note This study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, estimates the national revenue loss because of cessation of major elective surgeries during COVID-19 to be $22.3 billion. Sensitivity analysis finds that the recovery time to market equilibrium once elective surgeries fully resume is…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA), on April 9, identified the recall of Medtronic’s Valiant Navion Thoracic Stent Graft System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk of stent fractures and endoleak concerns. The system is used to repair lesions of…

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Editor's Note Findings in this study, by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, show the need for new mask designs that reduce side and bottom droplet leakage and good ventilation systems that take into account the aerosolized particle leakage that occurs with breathing and normal conversation as a…

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Editor's Note In response to a May 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services final rule on interoperability and patient access, The Joint Commission has created new requirements that address patient admission, discharge, and transfer notifications. The new requirements, which apply to hospitals and critical access hospitals, address the electronic…

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Editor's Note In this Swedish study, a considerable portion of healthcare workers (HCWs) who had mild infections of COVID-19 reported long-term symptoms that disrupted work, social, and home life. Of 2,149 HCWs enrolled in the study, 323 were seropositive for COVID-19. More than a fourth (26%) of seropositive HCWs reported…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 6, launched the SAFER Dashboard for its accredited healthcare organizations. The dashboard, which is accessible on an organization’s Joint Commission Connect extranet site, is a data analytic tool that allows organizations to view their survey data and national comparison data in one place.…

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Editor's Note This multicenter retrospective study led by researchers from George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, found that aspirin use by COVID-19 patients was associated with improved outcomes. Of 412 COVID-19 patients included in the study, 314 (76.3%) did not receive aspirin, and 98 (23.7%) received aspirin within…

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