Editor’s Note Social distancing was more effective than closing borders in preventing the spread of COVID-19, according to a study published in Cell December 14. Conducted by Scripps Research, the study examined the efficacy of various mandates—including stay-at-home measures, social distancing, and travel restrictions— in preventing local and regional transmission…

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Editor’s Note A new automated delivery system for anesthesia that has been effectively tested in monkeys could eventually be used by doctors to identify and deliver the right dose of drugs in people. The findings appeared October 31 in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United…

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Editor's Note Starting January 1, healthcare organizations must consider an expanded timeframe and range of care services when reporting patient suicide as a sentinel event to The Joint Commission. According to the December 13 announcement of the change to the organization’s Sentinel Event Policy, the revised definition “better reflects current…

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Editor’s Note Smartwatches can detect and diagnose irregular heart rhythms in children that standard physician monitoring may miss, Medical Xpress reports. Published on December 13 in Communications Medicine, the findings are based on a survey of 4 years’ worth of electronic medical records for pediatric cardiology patients at Stanford Medicine…

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Editor’s Note Charlotte, North Carolina-based Atrium Health is the first hospital to join the Medical Device Information Analysis and Sharing (MDIAS) public-private partnership (PPP) between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and private sector stakeholders. The news was announced December 12 by Mitre, a nonprofit research organization and the independent…

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Editor’s Note Penn Medicine celebrated a significant milestone on December 6—its 100th paired kidney exchange surgery in 12 months set a world record for the most kidney paired donation transplants in a year. The announcement was published in an EurekAlert! December 12 press release. Penn Medicine launched its Center for…

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Editor's Note A critical lack of beds in rehabilitation facilities and postdischarge care is impacting patient recovery postoperatively, Forbes December 12 reports. According to the article, procedures involving brain and spinal cord injuries are the most impacted. Authors Robert Glatter, MD, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New…

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Editor's Note Researchers are studying how heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes can be repaired and regenerated to improve functioning and help prevent more serious long-term consequences. The study, titled “Reduced mitochondrial protein translation promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation and heart regeneration,” was published by the journal Circulation—part of the American Heart Association—on…

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Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US rose by 76,800 from November to December, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on December 8. That is compared to the average monthly gain of 240,000 over the prior 12 months, for a total of 17,213,900 seasonally…

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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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