Editor's Note A new international study with more than 15,000 coauthors from 116 countries concludes that surgical procedures should be delayed for 7 weeks after a patient tests positive for COVID-19, to reduce postoperative mortality risk. The analysis of 140,231 patients undergoing surgical procedures in 1,674 hospitals in October 2020…

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Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US was down in February to a seasonally adjusted 15,914,500 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on March 5. That’s down 19,900 jobs since January and down 577,600 jobs compared to a year ago. The overall unemployment rate is 6.2%.

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Editor's Note This multi-center study finds that critical vitreoretinal surgical procedures deemed as urgent or emergency decreased nationwide from March until May 2020, even though the American Academy of Ophthalmology said these procedures should continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 17 institutions throughout the US. Compared to…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on March 3 announced that it is extending the reduced volume eligibility requirements for its advanced Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center (TSC) and Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) certification programs through May 31 because the number of patients seeking care for strokes continues to vary because of COVID-19.…

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Editor's Note A RAND Corporation study published in the March Health Affairs finds that health insurers and patients can achieve significant savings when they participate in a bundled payment program that waives cost-sharing for patients. Researchers examined a bundled payment program developed by a private insurer that ran from 2016…

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Editor's Note Nine hospital groups have asked the US Senate to add $35 billion to COVID-19 relief legislation to help them deal with financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the February 25 Fierce Healthcare reports. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed by the House does not include a provider…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 24 announced that it will be offering an Advanced Certification for Spine Surgery (ACSS) in collaboration with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). The new program will be available in July to hospitals, critical access hospitals, and ambulatory surgery centers that perform…

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Editor's Note An electronic medical record (EMR) data analysis by Epic Health Research Network for the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that from March through December 2020, hospital admissions were 8.5% below predictions because of COVID-19. The analysis, which is based on Epic’s EMR data on all inpatient admissions from December…

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Editor's Note ECRI’s Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety, a collaborative of national health IT safety experts, has released a new guidance to improve patient safety by reducing the number of alert notifications from computerized ordering systems. Their just-released white paper, “Safe Practices to Reduce CPOE [computerized provider order entry]…

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Editor's Note This follow-up survey of 5,285 US adults, which was completed in September 2020, finds that overall: 1,710 (33.0%) reported anxiety or depression symptoms 1,536 (29.6%) reported COVID-19 related trauma- and stressor-related disorder symptoms 781 (15.1%) reported increased substance use 618 (11.9%) reported having seriously considered trying to kill…

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