HHS updates physical activity guidelines for Americans
Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a summary of its new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, online November 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The updated guidelines provide information on types and amounts of physical activity that provide substantial health benefits. For…
93% of eligible clinicians received MIPS payment under QPP last year
Editor's Note New data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that 93% of eligible clinicians who participated in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) under the Quality Payment Program (QPP) received positive payment adjustments for their performance last year, the November 9 EHR Intelligence reports. Only…
Endoscopic vs open vein-graft harvesting for CABG
Editor's Note In patients having coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, no significant difference was found in the risk of major adverse cardiac events between open and endoscopic vein-graft harvesting procedures, this study finds. In this analysis of 1,150 patients at 16 Veterans Affairs centers over a median follow-up of…
US smoking rates at record low
Editor's Note Cigarette smoking rates in the US have dropped to the lowest level ever recorded, according to the November 9 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The smoking rate for adult smokers fell from 15.5% in 2016 to 14% in 2017, a rate 67% lower than it was in 1965.…
Association of nurse workload with missed care
Editor's Note A nurseโs ability to provide optimal patient care is influenced by a variety of factors, not just nurse to patient ratios, this study finds. In this study of 136 neonatal intensive care nurses caring for 418 infants during 332 12-hour shifts, subjective workload was the one variable that…
FDA launches app for EHR data collection
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently launched a new app to help streamline electronic health record (EHR) data collection for researchers, The November 7 EHRย Intelligence reports. Using the MyStudies app, researchers can access patient-generated health data, EHR patient data, and claims and billing information for use in…
Perioperative Nurse Week is November 11 to 17
Editor's Note Every year, Perioperative Nurse Week focuses attention on the work of more than 160,000 nurses who advocate for surgical patients. During the week, perioperative nurses are honored by colleagues and communities to highlight the ways in which nurses are working to improve patient safetyโbefore, during, and after surgeryโin…
Nurses scramble to save patients, themselves from California fire
Editor's Note At 7:30 am, Thursday November 8, With the Camp Fire raging through Paradise, California, staff at Adventist Health Feather River Hospital in Paradise were ordered to evacuate patients and flee themselves, the November 11 nbcnews.com reports. After helping load patients into every vehicle they could find, surgical nurses…
Success in efforts to prevent HAPUs may depend on data sources
Editor's Note Transitioning from administrative data to chart-based surveillance review to measure hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs) and accounting for HAPU severity could improve the validity of measures for assessing the clinical and financial impact of value-based purchasing interventions, this study finds. Assessing HAPU incidence, severity, and trends using administrative data…
Joint Commission announces new requirement for THKR certification
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 7 announced a new requirement of participation in a national joint replacement registry for its advanced Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement (THKR) certification, effective July 1, 2019. The Disease Specific Care Performance Measurement (DSPM) standard DSPM.4, element of performance (EP) 2 will…