Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense on July 22 announced an agreement with Pfizer to produce and deliver 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the US, following manufacture and approval. Pfizer will deliver the doses, once the vaccine receives emergency…

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Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that the estimated number of COVID-19 infections was more than 10 times higher than the number reported from March 23 to May 12. Serum samples from 16,025 individuals at 10 US sites were tested for antibodies. Six…

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On January 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began reimbursing healthcare providers for total hip arthroplasty performed in outpatient hospital settings and total knee arthroplasty in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), thereby opening the floodgates for explosive growth in outpatient total joint arthroplasty (TJA). About a million…

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Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 20 launched a new Data Hub for COVID-19 hospitalization data that officials say provides a more comprehensive view of the pandemic than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Healthcare Safety Network, where the information…

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Editor's Note Leaders of the US House of Representatives telehealth caucus introduced legislation on July 16 to permanently open up access to telehealth services for Medicare patients, the July 16 Fierce Healthcare reports. The bipartisan bill will eliminate restrictions on use in Medicare patients, and it will provide a bridge…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 15 announced that in a move to improve information gathering and resource allocation, hospitals will begin sending their COVID-19 related data directly through HHS Protect or TeleTracking rather than submitting it the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention…

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Editor's Note Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine could happen in October, the July 12 Time reports. The company was granted FDA Fast Track designation for the vaccine. Pfizer’s vaccine, being developed with its German biotech partner BioNTech, uses a messenger-RNA, genetics-based approach. Pfizer CEO Albert…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) on July 10 reported that health-related workplace absenteeism rates were significantly higher than expected in March and April for some occupational groups in essential critical infrastructure categories. The following significantly exceeded their epidemic thresholds: personal care and services, including childcare…

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Editor's Note This July 10 report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) provides detailed demographic and clinical information on a subset of 10,647 people who died with COVID-19 (ie, decedents) in 16 US public health jurisdictions between February 12 and May 18. The researchers found that: 60.6%…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced July 1 that it has made two sets of standards changes for deemed-status hospitals and critical access hospitals. The first set of changes, which went into effect July 1, was made in response to hospital deeming renewal applications with the Centers for Medicare &…

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