Blast from the past: Improving medication safety in the OR
The US Food and Drug Administration receives more than 100,000 medication-related reports, and some of them, according to the AORN Journal, “involve patient death.” AORN’s 2024 updated guidelines include safety updates for perioperative staff when handling, transporting, and administering medication, which can be a complex process prone to errors. In…
Thyroid hormone replacement boosts risk of abdominal surgery complications
Editor's Note: Preoperative thyroid hormone replacement independently predicts operative morbidity and length of stay following major abdominal surgery, according to a January 23 report in the American Journal of Surgery. To determine the association between preoperative thyroid hormone replacement and complications following major abdominal surgery, researchers performed a retrospective case…
Machine learning study shows AI’s potential for predicting kidney transplant outcomes
Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence (AI) leveraging machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP, a subset of machine learning) models can help identify donors with kidneys unsuitable for organ transplant, according to a study published November 1 in Jama Surgery. Despite the unmet need, many deceased-donor kidneys are discarded or…
More health systems embrace dual roles for C-suite executives
Editor's Note: Stacking additional responsibilities and titles atop pre-existing leadership responsibilities is becoming more common among health system executives, according to a January 24 report in Becker’s Hospital Review. Not including the most obvious overlapping pairings, such as chief medical officer and chief medical informatics officers, the most common parings…
Competition tight in annual “top hospital” rankings
Editor's Note: The 250 best hospitals in the US perform at such a high level that those at the lower end of the rankings aren’t much different from those at the higher end, according to a January 23 report from Chief Healthcare Executive. Released annually by Healthgrades, the 2024 "Top…
DOJ cracking down on AI tools for clinical decision-making
Editor's Note: The U.S. Justice Department is investigating how the healthcare industry is using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to analyze and make decisions using patients’ electronic health records (EHRs), Bloomberg Law reported January 29. So far, DOJ has served subpoenas related to EHRs to at least three major pharma companies:…
Pig liver test shows promise for future human transplants
Editor's Note: A successful test of a genetically modified pig liver attached to a brain-dead human body could have significant implications for liver failure patients, the Associated Press reported January 18. Conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, the tested method is similar to kidney dialysis in that the genetically modified…
Study: Perioperative nurses experience high rates of “disruptive” behavior
Editor's Note: Healthcare institutions urgently need intervention strategies to reduce disruptive behavior toward perioperative nurses, according to a report published in the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing on January 9. The recommendation follows a cross-sectional survey designed to “investigate the prevalence, characteristics, causes, consequences, and predictors of and responses to disruptive…
Scrub color affects how patients perceive clinicians
Editor's Note: A recent study shows the color of a clinicians’ scrubs is a factor in how patients view clinicians and, by extension, the clinician-patient relationship as well as clinical outcomes. The findings were published January 11 in Jama Surgery. Although previous research has established connections between physician’s attire and…
Hackers use stolen identities, IT help desk to redirect hospital funds
Editor's Note: In a sophisticated new scheme, hackers are stealing the identity of hospital employees in financial roles—such as revenue cycle employees—and then reaching out to the hospitals’ IT help desk in order to reset passwords, receive access codes, and redirect funds. The American Hospital Association (AHA) sent out an…