Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new concept paper on the department’s strategy regarding cybersecurity for the healthcare sector, a December 6 HHS press release reports. The paper details four pillars for action:  publishing new voluntary healthcare-specific cybersecurity performance goals working with Congress…

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Editor's Note A first-of-its-kind study examined a range of different professional healthcare roles during the pandemic and how they complied with precaution guidelines around infection prevention. The study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control on December 6, found statistically significant differences between job roles.  The researchers conducted a…

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Editor's Note A new study finds that while opioid prescriptions for postoperative pain relief have continued to decline, that downward trend has slowed since 2020, indicating the need for continued work to right-size opioid prescriptions for surgery patients. The findings were published by JAMA Network on December 7. Researchers looking…

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Editor's Note Researchers from Stanford Medicine have found a way to detect which organs in someone’s body are aging at an accelerated rate using a simple blood test. The findings were published in the journal Nature on December 6.  This study looked at 5,678 people and found that about one…

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Editor's Note There are new efforts underway to better harness electronic health record (EHR) data to track chronic diseases, as was done with tracking infectious diseases such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article discussing these efforts appeared in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice in October 2023.…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced a new certification program in a December 5 Global Newswire press release. The new certification provides guidance to healthcare organizations on the safe transfer of patient data to third-party organizations.   The voluntary Responsible Use of Health Data (RUHD) Certification program aims to help hospitals…

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Editor's Note A new wearable monitoring device system from researchers at the University of Arizona aims to make digital health access more equitable. These research findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on December 4.  The new device can reportedly send health data up to…

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Editor's Note A recent story on PBS NewsHour has recently looked at nurses’ vulnerability to burnout, and how it is impacting quality care. The story is part of the PBS series titled, “Critical Care: The Future of Nursing,” released on November 28. According to the story: A federal study last…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety notice on November 30 regarding quality concerns related to several Chinese manufacturers of syringes. The FDA is evaluating these devices for potential problems, including leaks, breakages, and the presence of particles in the syringes.  According to the safety…

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Editor's Note Functional ultrasound has been shown to be a promising alternative to brain-machine-interface (BMI) devices to read neural activity and assist people with paralysis. These findings were published by Nature Neuroscience on November 30.  BMIs typically require invasive surgical procedures to implant the electrodes into the brain. While these…

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