ASC joint ventures: 'To be, or not to be'
With healthcare costs continuing to rise, hospitals, payers, and patients are looking for different venues for care and ways to cut costs while maintaining quality and safety. As more surgical procedures are safely performed in outpatient settings, more ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are being built or restructured. Partnerships between hospitals…
Study: Health system executives call nursing shortage ‘critical’
Editor's Note In its first public study of health system executives, Incredible Health reveals that 94% of executives describe the nursing shortage as “critical.” The 2023 Healthcare Executive Report, released June 13, which solicited responses from 100 US health system executives, also finds the following: 68% say they do not…
Excess mortality at VHA facilities during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study, led by Boston University and VA Boston Healthcare System, finds a large variation in mortality across Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 11.4 million VHA enrollees during 2016 and 2020 were included in the analysis. Among the findings: VHA-enrolled veterans…
CMS: Healthcare spending to reach nearly $7.2 trillion by 2031
Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary (OACT) estimates that US healthcare spending will grow by 5.4% per year on average from 2022 to 2031, now that the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended. Rising from $4.4 to $7.17 trillion,…
Ability of AI-powered chatbot to make accurate diagnoses in complex cases
Editor's Note This study by researchers at Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, finds that generative artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Chat-GPT 4 is a promising potential adjunct to human cognition in diagnosing complex cases. Evaluating 70 complex and challenging patient cases in the New England Journal of Medicine’s clinicopathologic conferences (CPC), the…
Survey: Paid time off, flexible schedule most important to young adults
Editor's Note In a new survey conducted by Georgetown University, in partnership with Bank of America, adults cite paid time off (65%) and a flexible work schedule (58%) as the top benefits they look for when choosing an employer. Almost three quarters (73%) also want benefits that can travel with…
Vanderbilt team develops new protocol for emergency resternotomy
Editor's Note A multidisciplinary cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) team at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, recently conducted a bedside surgery simulation of a resternotomy to develop a new protocol for the lifesaving procedure, according to the June 15 VUMC Reporter. When a cardiac surgical patient starts bleeding postoperatively…
Study: Pediatric SSI rates in the US
Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, examines annual pediatric surgical site infection (SSI) rates among 287 US hospitals between 2015 and 2018. Overall, 27,433 surgical procedures were included in this study. The average annual SSI rates were highest for colon surgery…
New Gallup poll finds record high worker stress
Editor's Note A Gallup poll—State of the Global Workplace 2023—released June 13, finds that worker stress is at a record high worldwide. Key findings include: 59% are “quiet quitting” (ie, not engaged) 18% are” loud quitting” (ie, actively disengaged but still working) 44% experience “a lot” of stress at work…
Educational intervention to enhance nurses’ peer feedback
Editor's Note In this study from Nylen School of Nursing, Morningside University, Sioux City, Iowa, the use of a peer feedback educational tool significantly improved the level of comfort of nurses giving and receiving peer feedback. The tool helped nurses define professional peer review, review ethical and professional standards, and…