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 COVID-19 patients have larger lower extremity arterial thrombi and a significantly higher rate of amputation and death than uninfected patients with the same condition, this study finds.ontefi Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center, New York City, compared 16 COVID-19 patients who had symptoms of leg ischemia with 32 COVID-19…

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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 An expert panel from the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons on July 15 issued guidelines that include recommendations for when hospitals and surgical centers can resume elective orthopedic procedures. A set of 30 recommendations are presented in four categories: General—includes criteria based on factors, such as…

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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 This meta-analysis from the University of Bristol, UK, finds that overall COVID-19 intensive care mortality has fallen by a third since the start of the pandemic. Data from 24 studies, including 10,150 patients from centers in Asia, Europe, and North America, demonstrate an ICU mortality rate of 41.6%,…

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Editor's Note Researchers testing a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Dr Anthony Fauci’s team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna Inc, reported July 14 that the vaccine was able to produce neutralizing antibodies in the 45 trial participants inoculated in March. Moderna is scheduled to launch a late-stage…

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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 In this review article, researchers from the US, UK, Netherlands, and Australia discuss current evidence on the pathophysiology, transmission, diagnosis, and management of COVID-19. Among their findings: COVID-19 is spread primarily via respiratory droplets during close face-to-face contact. Infection can be spread by asymptomatic, presymptomatic and symptomatic carriers.…

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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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