Budget deal includes big changes for healthcare
Editor's Note The US Congress on February 9 passed a budget deal that will have a significant impact across nearly every sector of the healthcare industry, the March 9 Business Insider reports. Among the initiatives are: $2 billion for the National Institutes of Health $6 billion to combat the opioid…
Association of injury location to mortality
Editor's Note Injury scene characteristics are linked to mortality, with odds of death highest for those injured in communities with higher median age or lower per capita income, and located farther from level 1 or 2 trauma centers, this study finds. This study of 16,082 patients found the odds of…
FDA: New imaging technology promises stable supply of imaging isotope
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, MD, on February 8 announced the role the FDA played in the groundbreaking effort to develop a new imaging technology−the RadioGenix System. The technology, which resulted from a collaboration across the federal government and industry, has the potential to…
Testing reprocessing procedures with PCR based method
Editor's Note A real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sampling method for monitoring reprocessing of colonoscopes was successfully applied in this multicenter Italian study. PCR allowed identification of contaminated (59) and fully reprocessed (52) colonoscopes in 10 endoscopy units with high sensibility (98 %) and specificity (98%), within 3 to 4…
Exams scheduled for new ASC infection preventionist credential
Editor's Note The first exams have been scheduled for the recently launched new credential for infection preventionists in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) setting−Certified Ambulatory Infection Preventionist (CAIP). The exam will be online at a testing center October 1-31, 2018. Electronic application must be submitted between August 1 and 31.…
Joint Commission seeking comments on credentialing, privileging standards
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 7 announced that it is seeking comments on proposed revisions to its credentialing and privileging standards for contract services in Hospital, Critical Access Hospital, Ambulatory Health Care, Office-based Surgery, Nursing Care Center, and Behavioral Health Care accreditation programs. The revisions clarify or consolidate existing…
Short-term weight loss before bariatric surgery linked to better outcomes
Editor's Note Patients who lose some weight before bariatric surgery achieve greater weight loss after surgery, and they have shorter procedures and hospital stays, this study finds. Those (224 patients) who lost 8% of their excess weight by following a 1,200 calorie diet for 4 weeks before their surgeries had…
Vanderbilt heart transplant program reaches new record
Editor's Note Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) performed a record number of heart transplants in 2017, making it the second-busiest heart transplant program in the country. VUMC performed a record 97 heart transplantations, Â including pediatric cases, which surpassed the 2016 milestone of 92. Vanderbilt is building a program that…
FDA clears updated design, labeling for Pentax duodenoscope
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 7 announced that it had cleared the updated design and labeling for Pentax Medical's duodenoscope Model ED-3490TK. Pentax replaced the forceps elevator mechanism, O-ring seal, and distal end cap, and updated the Operation Manual to recommend annual maintenance. The design…
Colorectal ERP improves outcomes, lowers costs despite use of expensive drugs
Editor's Note Implementation of an enhanced recovery pathway (ERP) for colorectal surgical patients substantially reduced length of stay, total hospital costs, and direct pharmacy costs without increasing complications or readmission rates in this study. The study, which included 160 colorectal patients before ERP was implemented and 146 patients after implementation,…