FDA statement on access to opioids for patients with chronic, end-of-life pain
Editor's Note Food & Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, MD, on July 9 issued a statement on balancing access to appropriate treatment for patients with chronic and end-of-life pain with the need to stem the misuse and abuse of opioids. As the FDA considers new steps to address the…
Gender differences in residentsโ duty-hours, aspects of burnout, psychological well-being
Editor's Note Female general surgery residents work more, experience aspects of burnout more frequently, and have poorer psychological well-being, this study finds. Ofย 7,395 residents surveyed (response rate, 99%), females reported: more frequently staying in the hospital >28 hours or working >80 hours per week more frequently feeling fatigued and…
ECRI Institute reports on Health Devices Achievement Award recipient
Editor's Note In its July Health Technology eSource, ECRI Institute reported on Boston Medical Center winning the 2018 Health Devices Achievement Award for its pulmonary care app. The ICOUGH Recovery app promotes better engagement with and adherence to the hospitalโs recommended postoperative pulmonary care protocol, which focuses on: (I)ncentive spirometry…
FDA requires new labeling for fluoroquinolone antibiotics
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration announced on July 10 that it was requiring labeling changes for fluoroquinolone antibiotics because they may cause significant decreases in blood sugar and mental health side effects. The labels will add that low blood sugar levels can lead to coma and make the…
Physician burnout, well-being linked to medical errors
Editor's Note In this national study, physician burnout, fatigue, and work unit safety grades were associated with major medical errors. Of 6,695 physicians in active practice surveyed, 6,586 provided information: 54.3% reported symptoms of burnout 32.8% reported excessive fatigue 6.5% reported recent suicidal ideation 3.9% reported a poor or failing…
Hospital employment up 0.21% in June
Editor's Note USย hospitals added 10,600 jobs in June to a seasonally adjusted 5,175,800, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on July 6. That is 95,300 more employees than a year ago. The overall unemployment rate rose 0.2% in June to 4.0%.
Study: CMS policy on CLABSI, CAUTI has minimal effect on reimbursement
Editor's Note This study found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital-acquired conditions policy on central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) had minimal financial effects on hospitals because billing codes for CLABSI and CAUTI were rarely used and there was a significant…
CMS extends deadline for new alternative bundled payment model
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is extending the deadline for its new alternative bundled payment model from August 1 to August 8, the July 5 Modern Healthcare reports. CMS extended the deadline after receiving complaints from providers and hospitals that they werenโt…
FDA: US will no longer perform Zika tests on individual blood donations
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on July 6 announced that individual blood donations no longer need to be screened for Zika virus, โunless there is an increased risk of local mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus in a specific geographic area that would trigger individual donation testing in…
Cataract surgery linked to reduced traffic crashes
Editor's Note In this study, cataract surgery was associated with a patientโs reduced subsequent risk of being in a serious traffic crash as a driver. This analysis of 559,546 patients who had cataract surgery in at least one eye found that the crash rate decreased from 2.36 to 2.14 per…