Meditation during COVID-19 led to significant benefits for frontline nurses
Editor's Note According to a new study, transcendental meditation significantly benefitted the mental health and well-being of frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings were published in the Journal of Nursing Administration on December 11. Transcendental Meditation, or TM, involves sitting with the eyes closed for 20 minutes to…
Bill seeks to improve cost transparency, provide relief to patients
Editor's Note The US House of Representatives may vote this week on The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. Introduced September 8, the proposed act aims to boost healthcare pricing transparency so consumers can make more informed decisions. Key elements include: Hospitals, payers, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and other facilities would…
Scientists uncover new path to regenerate injured hearts
Editor's Note Researchers are studying how heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes can be repaired and regenerated to improve functioning and help prevent more serious long-term consequences. The study, titled “Reduced mitochondrial protein translation promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation and heart regeneration,” was published by the journal Circulation—part of the American Heart Association—on…
Healthcare employment up in November
Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US rose by 76,800 from November to December, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on December 8. That is compared to the average monthly gain of 240,000 over the prior 12 months, for a total of 17,213,900 seasonally…
Nonprofit hospitals face ongoing struggles in 2024
Editor's Note The 2024 forecast for nonprofit hospitals is likely to remain challenging, according to the latest annual Fitch Ratings outlook, Chief Healthcare Executive December 6 reports Some highlights of the report include: The outlook for 2024, which was identified as “deteriorating,” is based on three ongoing challenges for nonprofit hospitals:…
ASCs lock in higher Medicare, Medicaid payment rate
Editor's Note Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) will now receive a 3.1% payment rate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for services, which is an increase of .3% under the original rule, Becker’s ASC Review December 5 reports. This change in payment rate reflects the average of all…
HHS releases concept paper on cybersecurity for healthcare sector
Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new concept paper on the department’s strategy regarding cybersecurity for the healthcare sector, a December 6 HHS press release reports. The paper details four pillars for action: publishing new voluntary healthcare-specific cybersecurity performance goals working with Congress…
Study examines infection precautions during pandemic based on healthcare roles
Editor's Note A first-of-its-kind study examined a range of different professional healthcare roles during the pandemic and how they complied with precaution guidelines around infection prevention. The study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control on December 6, found statistically significant differences between job roles. The researchers conducted a…
Postoperative opioid prescriptions falling, but more improvement needed
Editor's Note A new study finds that while opioid prescriptions for postoperative pain relief have continued to decline, that downward trend has slowed since 2020, indicating the need for continued work to right-size opioid prescriptions for surgery patients. The findings were published by JAMA Network on December 7. Researchers looking…
New protein calculation uncovers which organs are aging at an accelerated pace
Editor's Note Researchers from Stanford Medicine have found a way to detect which organs in someone’s body are aging at an accelerated rate using a simple blood test. The findings were published in the journal Nature on December 6. This study looked at 5,678 people and found that about one…