Regulations/Legal
The Joint Commission updates 2022 ORYX performance measure requirements
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on December 15, announced that it had updated its 2022 ORYX performance measure reporting requirements for accredited critical access hospitals and hospitals, effective January 1, 2022. Among the updates: The Joint Commission’s new Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) will be available for hospitals to submit…
Mastering surveys by The Joint Commission, CMS during COVID-19 pandemic
The 2021 OR Manager Conference in Chicago saw John R. Rosing, MHA, FACHE, executive vice president and principal of Patton Healthcare Consulting, Naperville, Illinois, give his annual update on mastering Joint Commission standards and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) regulations. The past 2 years of COVID-19 restrictions have delayed…
CDC: Surveillance of Omicron variant in US
Editor's Note On December 1, the first case of COVID-19 attributed to the Omicron variant was reported in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of December 8, Omicron variant cases had been reported in 22 states, including some that indicated community transmission. Of…
Appeals court upholds halt on COVID-19 vaccine mandate for HCWs
Editor's Note The US Court of appeals for the 8th Circuit, on December 13, affirmed a lower court’s decision to halt the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers (HCWs) at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs, the December 14 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The court turned down the Biden…
Pfizer says COVID-19 booster protects against Omicron variant
Editor's Note On December 8, Pfizer said its COVID-19 booster was found to provide significant protection against the Omicron variant in a laboratory study, the December 8 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Blood samples from those who received three doses of the vaccine saw similar neutralization against the Omicron variant as…
FDA: Edge Pharma issues nationwide recall of all drug products
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 7 announced that Edge Pharma, LLC (Colchester, Vermont) has issued a nationwide recall of all drug products. The recall was initiated because of process issues that could lead to a lack of sterility assurance for products intended to be sterile…
Change in volume of surgical procedures during COVID-19 pandemic
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine find that the initial COVID-19 shutdown from March through April 2020 resulted in a decrease in surgical volume to nearly half of baseline rates. After the reopening, surgical volume rebounded to 2019 levels, and the trend was maintained.…
HHS: Telehealth use grew more than 6,000% during COVID-19 pandemic
Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported on December 3 that Medicare telehealth flexibilities led to a 63-fold (ie, from approximately 840,000 to 52.7 million) increase in use from 2019 to 2020. The report also notes that telehealth services were accessed more in urban than…
CDC confirms first US case of Omicron COVID-19 variant
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on December 1, issued a statement that the California and San Francisco Departments of Public Health have confirmed that a recent case of COVID-19 in an individual in California was caused by the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529). The individual, who has mild…
FDA: Class I recall of Teleflex percutaneous thrombolytic device kit
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on November 30, identified the worldwide recall by Teleflex of its Arrow-Trerotola Over-The-Wire PTD Kit Percutaneous Thrombolytic Device: 7FR as Class I, the most serious. The device, which is used for mechanical declotting of native arteriovenous fistulae and synthetic dialysis grafts, was…
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