Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 17 issued a Safety Alert on the System 83 Plus Automated Endoscope Reprocessors by Custom Ultrasonics (Warminster, Pennsylvania), recommending that healthcare facilities stop using them to reprocess duodenoscopes. The system may still be used for reprocessing endoscopes other than duodenoscopes.…

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Editor's Note Generation Z is beginning to enter the workforce, and recruiting is not the same as for millennials, the August 14 Fortune.com reports. Like the millennials, many Gen Zers want to do work that has a positive impact on the world, but they are more concerned about job security…

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Editor's Note Applying a classification tool to identify process and cognitive errors leading to discrepancies between intraoperative frozen section diagnoses and final pathology reports, researchers found that the rate of discrepancies is small and the source of discrepancies varied between organ systems and specific organs. Of 1,042 frozen sections examined,…

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Editor's Note Single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis was associated with fewer peripheral and epidural catheter infections, this study finds. The study included 11,307 regional anesthesia patients with single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis and 11,307 controls who did not receive antibiotics. For peripheral catheters, the incidence of infections without antibiotics was 2.4%, compared with 1.1%…

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Editor's Note Phoenix-based Valley Anesthesiology and Pain Consultants sent notices to nearly 900,000 individuals, including patients, current and former employees, and providers, of a data breach after an unauthorized third party may have gained access to its computer systems in March, the August 15 Becker’s Health IT & CIO Review…

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Editor's Note This study found that hospital-acquired pressure ulcers add 44% to the cost of major surgical hospital stays, but the amount varies depending on length of stay. Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases and the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System for 2011…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 15 announced the recall by Cook Medical (Bloomington, Indiana) of 8,750 units of its Roadrunner UniGlide Hydrophilic Wire Guides because of concerns about a potential contamination of the wires’ hydrophilic coating with glass particles. The wire guides are used in…

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Editor's Note Appendectomy is cost-effective for abscessed appendicitis in patients less than 34 years old, this study finds. For an 18-year-old patient, appendectomy costs $9,417.22 with a gain of 16.59 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), compared with no appendectomy, which costs $11,613.57 with a gain of 16.52 QALYs. For a 35-year-old…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on August 15 published a proposed rule on Control of Communicable Diseases. The proposal amends the CDC’s domestic and foreign quarantine regulations to help respond to outbreaks of new or reemerging communicable diseases, such as Ebola, Middle Ease Respiratory Syndrome…

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Editor's Note Several technical and nontechnical skill sets of practicing surgeons were found to be in need of improvement, in this study, which provided support for implementing coaching programs for surgeons on an ongoing basis. A total of 32 surgeons (18 general, 14 gynecologists) from 6 hospitals were assessed; 9…

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