With healthcare costs continuing to rise, hospitals, payers, and patients are looking for different venues for care and ways to cut costs while maintaining quality and safety. As more surgical procedures are safely performed in outpatient settings, more ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are being built or restructured. Partnerships between hospitals…

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Editor's Note National Time Out Day on June 14 renews attention on the surgical team to prevent wrong-site surgery by pausing before a surgical procedure begins to make sure it is the right site, right procedure, and right person, a June 7 joint statement by The Joint Commission and AORN…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on May 31, announced that it has added several new and revised elements of performance (EPs) for critical access hospitals (CAHs) that address restraint and seclusion, the complaint process, and unified and integrated structures for CAHs that are part of a multihospital system, effective June…

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Editor's Note This study from the Mayo Clinic finds that perioperative COVID-19 precautions did not significantly reduce the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs). The analysis included 29,904 patients who had colorectal, hysterectomy, hip, and knee prosthesis procedures at the Mayo Clinic’s multicenter institution between January 1, 2018 and December…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on May 11, finalized its recommendations for assessing blood donor eligibility, which uses individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV. The questions will be the same for all donors, regardless of sexual orientation, sex, or gender. The new policy…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on May 3, announced the revision of several of its elements of performance (EPs) for critical access hospitals to align with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) Conditions of Participation (CoPs). The revisions primarily address restraint and seclusion, the complaint process, and unified…

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Editor's Note The American Cancer Society, on May 2, announced new research that discovered both favorable and unfavorable changes in major cancer risk factors, preventive behaviors and services, and screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the favorable side, smoking, physical inactivity, and heavy alcohol consumption declined, and human papillomavirus vaccination…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on April 26, announced updates to the enforcement process for its hospital price transparency rule. CMS will now automatically impose a civil monetary penalty if hospitals do not submit a corrective action plan on time or complete it within 45 days.…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 12, announced that it and Kaiser Permanente are still accepting applications for the 2023 Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity. The award, now in its third year, gives national recognition to a healthcare organization for an intervention…

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Editor's Note ECRI, on April 10, released a statement saying it is “deeply disturbed” by reports that nearly 99% of US hospitals have third-party tracking on their websites that transfers patient data to technology and social media companies, advertising firms, and data brokers. Besides the violation of privacy, ECRI says…

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