Editor's Note A computer model, which for the first time accurately predicted two of the most challenging side effects of radiation therapy for head and neck cancer patients, was presented September 26 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology in Chicago. Researchers from the University of…
Editor's Note This national survey of surgical residents found that needlesticks occur frequently, many events are not reported, and numerous reporting barriers exist. Of 7,395 respondents from all 260 general surgery residency programs, 27.7% noted experiencing a needlestick in the last 6 months. Most events occurred in the OR (77.5%)…
Editor's Note Medtech sterilization companies were asked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide data that will help the agency craft new regulation of ethylene oxide emissions, the September 25 Medical Design & Outsourcing reports. The data will include specific sterilization facility characteristics, control devices, work practices, and costs…
Editor's Note In this study, a machine learning algorithm resulted in the most accurate estimation of operative case-time duration. Researcher developed models to predict case-time duration using linear regression and supervised machine learning. Each model included an all-inclusive model, service-specific models, and surgeon-specific models. The data set used included 46,986…
Editor's Note 2019 continues to be a year of change in the healthcare industry as well as great innovation. HealthStream has broken down the top 10 trends and identifies solutions that can help an organization streamline initiatives and improve outcomes. Among the top trends: Amazon is becoming a major disrupter.…
Editor's Note When deep learning algorithms were compared with health-care professionals in classifying diseases using medical imaging, diagnostic performance was equivalent between the two. In this meta-analysis of 14 studies, researchers found that deep learning systems correctly detected a disease state 87% of the time, compared with 86.4% for healthcare…
Editor's Note Amazon has launched Amazon Care, a virtual primary care clinic, with an option for home visits from nurses, the September 24 CNBC.com reports. Employees will have an option to see a physician, nurse practitioner, or RN via a mobile app or website, and they can text a nurse…
Editor's Note In this study to discover the experiences of 10 nurse managers who transitioned from a staff nurse position, participants said they experienced role insufficiency because of a lack of support and resources. During the interviews, five themes were identified: expectations essential knowledge and skills graduate education prepared sought…
Editor's Note In a proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering whether to reimburse for percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) at ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), the September 20 tctMD reports. As of May 1, 2019, approximately 22 states allowed for coronary interventions to be done outside…
Editor's Note This study found that surgical site infections (SSIs) occurred most commonly after total joint replacement revision procedures and were related to many patient comorbidities, which were significantly associated with a higher risk of SSIs. In this analysis of 335,134 total knee replacements (TKRs) and 163,547 total hip replacements…