Before COVID-19 emerged as the biggest disruptor of 2020, many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) had been growing volume and receiving Medicare reimbursements for an increasing number of procedures. Stopping elective procedures in the spring was a significant setback, especially for smaller, independent facilities, notes a Global Healthcare Advisors (GHA) brief,…
Editor's Note The number of children’s mental health emergency department (ED) visits decreased sharply from mid-March through early April 2020, coincident with the implementation of community mitigation measures enacted to prevent COVID-19 transmission, and then visits increased steadily through October, this study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
Editor's Note Moderna Inc (Cambridge, Massachusetts) on November 16 announced that its vaccine is 94.5% effective at preventing COVID-19. Their analysis of a 30,000-person trial (half received the vaccine and half received a placebo) finds that 90 of the 95 COVID-19 documented cases are in the placebo group. The Moderna announcement…
Thank you for registering for the Leadership, Policy, and Transparency: Driving Sustainable Value, Efficiency, and Surgeon Utilization webinar. You should receive a confirmation email shortly with instructions on how to access the webinar. If you do not receive this email, please contact us at 1-888-707-5814 or [email protected].
December 3, 2020 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE Managing ORs is hard, especially without access to reliable and readily available data. EHRs that are built to capture information about patients and their care do not provide the level of data visibility or reliability needed to…
Editor's Note A new national survey released November 12 by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, finds that a majority of Americans plan to take precautions at holiday gatherings, but many also will put themselves at risk. Nearly two in five surveyed say they will likely…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced November 11 that it has modified its Environment of Care (EC) survey process for ambulatory surgery centers (those deemed and/or assigned life safety code surveyors), critical access hospitals, and hospitals, effective January 1, 2021. The change eliminates the 1-hour, sit-down discussion with members of…
Editor's Note New research from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; and University of California, San Francisco; finds that young adults in the US are experiencing a significant mental health burden as a result of job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis shows that since…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 10 announced that Medicare will cover out-of-pocket costs for monoclonal antibody drugs for COVID-19 during the public health emergency. The agency’s coverage includes Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab, which recently received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug…
Editor's Note This study from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, finds that the social isolation brought on by stay-at-home orders (SAHO) issued during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in intentional penetrating injuries, especially from firearms, and the injuries remain at high levels today. As of October 19, Philadelphia…