Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 22, announced that it is seeking input to a survey on the implementation and utilization of electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) to better assess the impact of prospective changes to data submission practices. This applies, in particular, to a healthcare organization’s readiness in…

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Editor's Note The FDA on March 15 issued its third warning letter to endoscope manufacturer Olympus Medical, following a manufacturing site inspection and 160 complaints of device failure, as reported by Beckers. The warning letter comes after a Tokyo, Japan facility inspection, where the Single-Use Distal Covers for Duodenoscopes and…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 22, announced that it is seeking comments on proposed new requirements to address environmental sustainability for the hospital and critical access hospital programs. The aim of the proposed new Leadership (LD) Standard LD.05.01.01 is to help facilities minimize their carbon footprints as they…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), on March 23, announced the launch of a National Quality Verification Program for Vascular Care (Vascular-VP). Vascular-VP helps participating hospitals improve outcomes and deliver the best treatment for patients having inpatient vascular surgical and interventional procedures.…

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Editor's Note Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show 1,706 COVID-19 deaths for the week ending March 15, the lowest number since March 25, 2020, according to the March 20 US News & World Report. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations also continue to drop, with weekly infections at their lowest…

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Editor's Note With the demand for travel nurses rising significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, some states are proposing measures to control what staffing agencies can charge healthcare facilities that use the temporary staff, the March 17 Kaiser Health News reports. Among 11 states proposing regulations: Missouri is calling for felony…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 16 updated its list of COVID-19 medical device shortages to reflect changes in estimated shortage durations during the public health emergency. These include: Radiological devices General plastic surgery devices Cardiac diagnostic and monitoring products General ICU/hospital products Specimen collection, testing…

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Editor's Note Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on March 15 amended the February 4, 2020, COVID-19 emergency use authorizations for: diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 personal respiratory protective equipment other medical devices including alternative products used as medical devices drug and biological products. These emergency…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on March 8, issued an update on reports of squamous cell carcinoma in the scar tissue (capsule) that forms around breast implants—both saline and silicone as well as textured and smooth. Previously, on September 8, 2022, the FDA informed the public of…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 15, announced that refreshed Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports are available for primary (PSCs) and comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs) to provide updated performance measurement data on quality measures selected for advanced certification programs. The reports contain data through the third quarter of 2022. Dashboards…

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