Study finds high rates of preventable, adverse events in perioperative care
Editor's Note Adverse events (AEs) remain widespread in perioperative care, affecting nearly one in three patients and resulting in substantial and often preventable patient harm, according to a retrospective cohort study published November 13 in The BMJ. The study analyzed 1,009 weighted admissions from a sample of 64,121 surgical patients…
Deep neuromuscular blockade aids laparoscopic surgeons, but not necessarily patients
Editor's Note Research shows a deeper neuromuscular block (NMB) can help perform complex abdominal surgeries laparoscopically without impacting intraoperative safety or patient outcomes, according to an October 20 report in MedPage Today. Conducted across European centers and announced at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting, the randomized trial enrolled…
Hurricane aftermath reports highlight rescues, flood-resistant engineering
Editor's Note The success of flood-resistant engineering and a daring rooftop rescue are amid the positive stories to emerge amid the many tragedies wrought by Hurricane Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 this past weekend in Florida before drenching much of the Southeast and Midwest. Left with too…
Studies highlight success strategies for combatting handoff communication failure, care inequity
Editor's Note Recent research sheds new light on addressing two of the most pressing problems for surgical care: handoff communication failures and care bias and inequities leading to adverse—and preventable—events. These problems are the subjects of two separate success stories in the August issue of The Joint Commission Journal…
Physician survey illuminates negative impact of prior authorization
Editor's Note The American Medical Association (AMA) annual, nationwide prior authorization survey reveals that over 90% of physicians believe prior authorization negatively impacts patient clinical outcomes. “More telling,” AMA reported July 17, is the fact that 78% of physicians report that this process “sometimes or often” leads to patients abandoning…
State of the huddle: The barriers to and benefits of preop meetings
Complex problems do not always require complex solutions. Consider the surgical safety checklist. In 2020, more than a decade after the World Health Organization (WHO) started advocating that every hospital use the checklist, research from PSNET found that more than 90% of ORs in countries with a high human development…
Study: Female, minority surgeons experience greater distress after adverse events
Editor's Note Surgeons and surgical trainees who are female or from minority racial or ethnic backgrounds report higher levels of negative emotions and self-doubt after adverse events, according to a recent study in JAMA Network Open. According to a June 5 report in MedPage Today, the single-site, mixed-methods study found…
Unveiling ECRI’s 2024 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns list
From integrating new technology to navigating shifts in care delivery and mitigating burnout, the most pressing challenges for healthcare organizations tend to be multifaceted problems that demand multifaceted solutions. For evidence of that, look no further than the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2024 list from ECRI. For every risk…
FDA: Surgical mesh mini-slings comparable to mid-urethral slings for stress urinary incontinence
Editor's Note Mini-slings for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) are similarly effective to mid-urethral slings over a 36-month timeframe, according to an April 11 announcement from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). FDA reached this conclusion after an in-depth, systematic literature review of post-market surveillance (“522”) studies required last year…
Healthcare safety report: Outcomes improving, but workplace violence persists
Editor's Note Healthcare safety is moving in the right direction generally, but low perceptions of safety and rising reports of violence against nurses represent critical gaps that leaders should address, according to an April 2 press release on Press Ganey’s “Safety in Healthcare 2024” report. Focused on event reporting, workforce…
Free Daily News
- Milestone pig kidney transplant offers hope amid ethical, safety questions
- Fitch Ratings: Hospital credit outlook improves amid stabilizing margins
- Annual Leapfrog Group awards recognize top hospitals, ASCs
- US obesity rates decline for first time in a decade
- Study: Active monitoring without surgery safe for certain low-risk DCIS patients
- Data support option to skip sentinel lymph node biopsy in early breast cancer
- Surveyed nurses, physicians likely to quit
- Costs drop, access expands for GLP-1 weight loss drugs
- Q&A: Perioperative immunotherapy advances for early-stage NSCLC
- Proposals close December 16: Present at the 2025 OR Manager Conference