Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was down in April to a seasonally adjusted 15,950,300 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 7. That’s down 4,100 since March. Hospital employment was down 5,800 jobs.  The overall unemployment rate went up to 6.1%.

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Editor's Note The US averaged 48,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in the past week. This is a 15% improvement from last week, and the first time since October 2020 that average daily cases have fallen below 50,000. Nationally, deaths from COVID-19 fell 3% to 4,819, the fewest deaths in…

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The increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccines, along with proposed healthcare industry funding from the federal government, are reasons to feel hopeful about recovering from the pandemic. For people who are fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has green-lighted gathering with loved ones and resuming some activities that…

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Editor’s Note. This article presents value-based analyses on the use of Mako robotic technology in total knee, partial knee, and total hip arthroplasty. The authors are with Stryker Orthopaedics in Mahwah, New Jersey.   Joint arthroplasty is an effective procedure to treat advanced osteoarthritis of the hips and knees. It…

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Most high-performing ORs share something in common—an anesthesia group that is actively engaged in perioperative leadership, takes responsibility for organizational performance, and is fully invested in the success of the OR. Unfortunately, in many ORs, anesthesia providers focus narrowly on services and procedures, not the total performance of the surgery…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, find that ambulatory surgery offers significant cost savings and generally superior 30-day outcomes compared to inpatient surgery. Of 73,724 patients having hernia repair, primary total or partial thyroidectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, or laparoscopic appendectomy in…

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Editor's Note This study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, estimates the national revenue loss because of cessation of major elective surgeries during COVID-19 to be $22.3 billion. Sensitivity analysis finds that the recovery time to market equilibrium once elective surgeries fully resume is…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 6, launched the SAFER Dashboard for its accredited healthcare organizations. The dashboard, which is accessible on an organization’s Joint Commission Connect extranet site, is a data analytic tool that allows organizations to view their survey data and national comparison data in one place.…

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Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in March to a seasonally adjusted 15,935,300 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on April 2. That’s up 11,500 jobs since February and down 462,100 jobs compared to a year ago. Hospital employment was still down 600 jobs, the…

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Editor's Note This study led by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that early in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a substantial increase in telehealth use across all surgical specialties, with a slow decline after June 2020. Of 4,405 surgeons included in the study, 2,588 (58.8%) used telehealth in…

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