Perception of OR safety of surgical practice linked to postop mortality
Editor's Note The perception of safety of surgical practice among OR personnel was associated with hospital level 30-day postoperative patient mortality rates in this study. As part of the Safe Surgery 2015: South Carolina initiative, a baseline survey measuring perception of safety of surgical practice among OR personnel was completed.…
Voluntary bundled-payment models shifting to outpatient procedures
Editor's Note Though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is rolling back mandatory bundled-payment programs, it is expected to release more voluntary, outpatient-focused programs, which shifts power from hospitals to physicians, the August 21 Healthcare Finance News reports. Physician-focused does not require a hospitalization, which creates a complete…
Surgeons perform first magnetic compression anastomosis (magnamosis) in humans
Editor's Note In this pilot trial, surgeons used a pair of magnets (ie, Harrison rings) to create an intestinal anastomosis without sutures or staples in five patients. For each procedure, one Harrison ring was placed in the lumen of each intestinal segment, and then the rings were brought together and…
Effectiveness of drug-free interventions to reduce pain, opioids after total knee
Editor's Note In this meta-analysis of the effectiveness of nonpharmacological interventions for pain after total knee arthroplasty, electrotherapy and acupuncture were associated with reduced and delayed opioid consumption, but there was low or very low certainty that they improved pain. Continuous passive motion and preoperative exercise did not improve pain…
Study: Concurrent surgeries not linked to adverse outcomes
Editor's Note In this study using data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), concurrent surgical procedures were not found to increase the risk for adverse outcomes. The analysis included 1,430 surgeons from 390 hospitals who performed 12,010 concurrent surgical procedures from 2014 to…
Long-term opioid use rarely starts with surgery
Editor's Note The initial event associated with exposure to prescription opioids is often thought to be an injury or surgical procedure, but this study finds that opioid use rarely starts with surgical procedures. Of 117,118 patients with sustained prescription opioid use who were analyzed, just 800 (0.7%) received their initial…
ECRI Institute releases free white paper on value analysis
Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on August 23 announced a new free white paper, “Value Analysis: Best Practices for Navigating the Evidence Maze,” to help value analysis committees bring an objective, systematic approach to the decision-making process for health technologies and interventions. The white paper includes three case studies that…
Public expects physicians, nurses to protect them during active shooting events
Editor's Note Results of a new national survey by the Hartford Consensus about views of the public and healthcare professionals on active shooter events in hospitals show that: 61% of the public and 62% of professionals believe physicians and nurses have a special duty to protect patients during an active…
Joint Commission deletes standard related to performance on ORYX measures
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced August 21 that Standard PI.02.01.03: “The hospital improves its performance on ORYX accountability measures” and the Standard's one Element of Performance: “The hospital achieves a composite performance rate of at least 85% on the ORYX accountability measures transmitted to the Joint Commission” will be…
FDA: Vital Rx, dba Atlantic Pharmacy and Compounding recall all lots of compounded injectable drugs
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 18 announced the recall by Vital Rx, dba Atlantic Pharmacy and Compounding (Pompano Beach, Florida) of all lots of compounded injectable medications because of sterility assurance. During a recent FDA inspection, investigators observed unsanitary conditions, including poor sterile production practices.…