Resources
Expected CDC COVID-19 isolation guidance revisions exclude those with mild symptoms, no fever
Editor's Note This spring, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to announce that individuals who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to isolate if they’ve been fever-free for 24 hours and symptoms are mild or improving. Current guidelines, in place since 2021, recommend isolating for…
Save the Date for OR Business Management Conference 2025
Editor's Note After three days of education and networking last week at the 2024 OR Business Management Conference (ORMBC) last week, we’ve already got our sights set on next year. Mark your calendar for February 9-12, 2025, for another chance to hone in on OR profitability at the 13th iteration…
Session: Imminent supply chain disruptors—What's your business continuity plan?
Editor's Note “Can cost and resiliency co-exist?” Michael Schiller, CMRP, executive director (interim) of the Association for Healthcare Resources and Materials Management—a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association—asked this session’s audience on the last day of the OR Business Management Conference. “They can co-exist,” he said, “but resiliency…
Session: Fast-forward—ECRI’s top 10 health technology hazards
Editor's Note ECRI, an independent, nonprofit organization that aims to improve the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care across all healthcare settings, every year compiles and unveils a list of the top 10 technology hazards affecting patient care. The motivation for producing this list, according to Jason Launders, director of…
New Joint Commission requirements for total hip, knee replacements focus on opioids, diabetes
Editor's Note The Joint Commission has released revised requirements for the advanced disease-specific care certification for total hip and total knee replacement (THKR). The requirements, which are designed to align with the updated AAOS clinical practice guidelines, go into effect July 1, 2024 and focus largely on addressing opioids and…
Competition tight in annual “top hospital” rankings
Editor's Note: The 250 best hospitals in the US perform at such a high level that those at the lower end of the rankings aren’t much different from those at the higher end, according to a January 23 report from Chief Healthcare Executive. Released annually by Healthgrades, the 2024 "Top…
Lessons of Pennsylvania’s $8.1 billion COVID loss apply nationwide
Editor's Note: Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems lost a total of $8.1 billion to COVID-19 between January 2020 and December 2022, HealthLeaders reported on January 18. In addition to illuminating the new data from The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, the…
CMS announces new actions to support hospitals under EMTALA
Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced a new initiative to ensure public access to emergency healthcare and assist hospitals in fulfilling obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a CMS January…
Rural US hospitals experiencing labor, delivery crisis
Editor's Note: Rural communities are at serious risk due to hospitals’ increasing inability to offer labor and delivery services, according to a new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform. Highlights include: More than half (55%) of rural hospitals in the U.S. do not offer labor and…
CMS reforms prior authorization to improve care, streamline physician process
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented a final rule reforming the prior authorization process, with the aim to reduce delays in patient care and boost electronic efficiency for physicians, the American Medical Association (AMA) News Wire reported January 23. The Department of Health and…
Free Daily News
- Study: COVID-19's impact on oncological surgery offers lessons for future crises
- Study links pandemic stress to persistent increases in nursing-sensitive quality indicators
- Save the date for the 2025 OR Business Management Conference
- Study: Education, exercise improve knee OA with or without prior surgery
- Study: Early surgery outperforms endoscopy for long-term pancreatitis
- Study: Blood thinner, NSAID combination raises bleeding risk
- Hospital financial report predicts stability, high cybersecurity costs for 2025
- IV fluid shortage drives innovation in hospital hydration practices
- FDA Class 1 recalls target anesthesia workstations, ambulatory infusion pumps, ventilators
- Five leadership lessons from an ASC CEO