Editor's Note Eligible hospitals, critical access hospitals, and professionals who did not achieve "meaningful use" in the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program for the 2015 reporting period have until July 1 to apply for a hardship exception from the 2017 payment adjustment.   The streamlined hardship applications reduce the…

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Editor's Note An investigation by the Pasadena Public Health Department, Pasadena, California, into the outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial infections from duodenoscopes found that 16 patients at Huntington Hospital were infected from January 2013 to August 2015, including 11 who have now died, the June 1 Los Angeles Times reports.…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an alert May 23 on newly excluded ICD diagnosis codes that will no longer be accepted starting January 7, 2017. The codes include: T88.8XXA (Other specified complications of surgical and medical care, not elsewhere classified, initial encounter) T88.8XXD (Other…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 1 issued a safety alert that the agency had received reports of US patients infected with Mycobacterium chimaera after undergoing cardiothoracic surgery that involved the use of the Stockert 3T Heater-Cooler System by Sorin Group Deustchland GmbH. Efforts are underway…

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Editor's Note Scope of practice restrictions and physician supervision requirements for nurse anesthetists have no impact on anesthesia patient safety, this study finds. Examining 5.7 million anesthesia cases, researchers found that anesthesia complications differed significantly with: patient characteristics patient comorbidities the procedures being administered. Complication odds did not differ by…

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Editor's Note Many total hip and knee patients are still taking opioid pain medication up to 6 months after surgery, finds this study. The study identifies several predictors for persistent opioid use: Of patients taking opioids before surgery, 53% of total knee and 35% of total hip patients were still…

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Editor's Note New York City’s (NYC’s) 825-bed Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital will close in 4 years and be replaced by a much smaller 70-bed facility while expanding outpatient surgery, primary care, and behavioral health services, the May 25 New York Times reports. Officials blame the high cost of health…

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Editor's Note Vulnerable status of hospitals is linked to higher readmission rates after major cancer surgery, this study finds. Of 355 hospitals analyzed, safety net hospitals and high Medicaid hospitals had higher 30-day, 90-day, and repeated readmissions. The findings reinforce the need to account for socioeconomic variables in risk adjustments…

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Editor's Note Nearly half of general surgery patients with postoperative complications have multiple complications, finds this study. Of more than 470,000 patients in the analysis, the overall complication rate was 15%, with multiple complications in 27,032. Strongest predictors for developing multiple complications were admission from chronic care facility or nursing…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 27 classified the recall by Medtronic of its Capnostream 20 and Capnostream 20p patient monitor battery packs as Class I, the most serious. The recall is being initiated because a manufacturing defect causes an increase in temperature in the battery…

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