Editor's Note According to ASC Focus, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association journal, new research was recently published that supports older data pointing to the cost savings of orthopedic procedures being done in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) compared to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). Past research cited by ASC Focus included an…

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Editor's Note Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, inflation, money issues, and the war in Ukraine have pushed US stress to alarming levels, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). APA partnered with the The Harris Poll to conduct a survey between February 7 and 14, 2022, and again…

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Editor's Note According to the 2022 Key ASC Benchmarks and Industry Figures report published by Avanza Healthcare Strategies, an ASC consulting firm, cardiology is the fastest growing ASC specialty, Becker’s ASC Review March 10 reports. The Avanza report was released on March 8 and is a “compilation of recently [as…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California, finds that shortages of shoe covers, disposable head covers, and single-use facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic did not increase surgical site infections (SSIs). Researchers compared SSI rates reported to the National Healthcare Safety…

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Editor's Note OR Manager recently reported on the increased cybersecurity risk the Russia/Ukraine conflict poses to US healthcare systems. With two new malware threats identified last week, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI are urging US organizations and the private sector, including healthcare, to stay vigilant and…

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Editor's Note Surgical backlog is still a challenge that many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are currently working through. According to Becker’s ASC Review March 3, this backlog “could take years for some centers to recover from depending on the specialty and site of care” and has led some ASCs to…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in February to a seasonally adjusted 16,184,800 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on March 4. That’s up 63,500 since January. Hospital employment also was up by 2,700 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for February was 3.8%, for a…

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Editor's Note On March 1, the American Hospital Association (AHA) submitted a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee urging Congress to consider and address the challenges the healthcare workforce is currently facing. As healthcare workers enter the third year of the pandemic, AHA likened current challenges to “a…

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Editor's Note Three American hospitals top Newsweek’s annual World’s Best Hospitals list, published on March 2. These hospitals have learned to adapt to new and existing challenges quickly during medicine's 2-year war against COVID-19, Newsweek says. The top three are: Mayo Clinic-Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio Massachusetts General…

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Editor's Note On February 23, the American Hospital Association (AHA) released a Cybersecurity Advisory report because of the heightened risk of cyberattacks due to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to AHA, just this past weekend, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI urged the US private sector, including…

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