Editor's Note By 2035, cardiothoracic surgeons will be responsible for more than 850,000 surgical patients, a 61% increase from 2010, according to this study presented May 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in Baltimore. Cases per surgeon per year in 2010 averaged 135 for…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on May 18 that it had updated its Quality Check website. The website, launched in 1996, allows customers to search for accredited and certified organizations by city, state, name, zip code, or Joint Commission identification number. The updated site also lets customers search by services…

Read More

Editor's Note This study from the University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, identifies the most frequently touched surfaces in the OR and their level of contamination. The top high touch surface was the anesthesia computer mouse, followed by the OR table, nurse computer mouse, OR door, and anesthesia cart. Using the…

Read More

Editor's Note In this study, a nonpunitive and collaborative peer methodology for assessing endoscope reprocessing at five Johns Hopkins GI endoscopy sites (three hospital based and two ASCs) was successful in capturing and sharing best practices for cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization of endoscopes. The assessments showed that 20 (42%) of…

Read More

Editor's Note A new measure for assessing the body’s response to painful stimuli during surgery may allow for better anesthesia management, less pain when regaining consciousness, and better postoperative outcomes, this study finds. The measure, called the nociception (pain) level index, uses an algorithm to process multiple hormonal and neurological…

Read More

Editor's Note A new long-acting cardioplegia solution resulted in better outcomes for pediatric cardiac surgery patients in this study, presented May 16 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in Baltimore. Researchers randomized 100 pediatric patients to the new Del Nido solution or the conventional St…

Read More

Editor's Note Common measures used to rate hospital safety, such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Indicators and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital-acquired Conditions, do not accurately capture the quality of care provided, this study finds. Only one measure out of…

Read More

Editor's Note Autonomous robotic surgery performed by the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) may help healthcare providers improve outcomes and efficiency, while reducing errors, finds this study. STAR integrates a robotic arm, suturing device, and imaging capabilities. Surgeons tested STAR against manual, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted surgery for porcine intestinal anastomoses…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced May 11 that it will release additional guidance in June regarding the expectations for text orders. The guidance will include the frequency text orders may be used, whether text orders that are directly integrated into the electronic health record are viewed differently than manually…

Read More

Editor's Note In a new study, military surgeons are proposing a new education and training paradigm that will benefit them and their patients in both military and civilian practice environments, the American College of Surgeons reports. Military surgeons face a unique challenge in that they serve as a “jack-of-all trades”…

Read More