Editor's Note This study led by researchers from the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, finds that COVID-19 vaccine-related messaging should address concerns about the vaccine and its development and reinforce its benefits to increase the willingness of US adults to get the COVID-19 vaccine and to get the vaccine under an…

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Editor's Note In a Vida Health survey, nearly half of some 2,000 US adults say they have thought about seeking mental health treatment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the January 19 Human Resource Executive. The vast majority (88%) of those surveyed report mental health symptoms, such as: difficulty…

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Editor's Note Results from Johnson & Johnson’s early-stage trials for its COVID-19 vaccine showed neutralizing antibodies in all participants who received the vaccine when they were tested at 57 days. The J&J Ad26.COV2.S vaccine is different than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in that it is anenovirus-based rather than mRNA-based.…

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Information about COVID-19 transmission and treatment has evolved between the time this infectious disease first emerged and now. As evidence-based knowledge grows and protocols change, and as populations are vaccinated to develop herd immunity, there is increasing optimism about the ability to combat the virus. Meanwhile, it is important to…

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Resiliency, a term that has cropped up repeatedly during the COVID-19 pandemic, is often considered a key defense against burnout. But it is also important in the context of the healthcare supply chain, says Ed Hisscock, senior vice president of supply chain management at Trinity Health, a 22-state healthcare system…

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The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines starting in December 2020 was the one bright spot in an otherwise tragic year with a rapidly rising death toll currently over 385,000. Distribution of the 20 million doses promised by year end was thwarted by problems such as lack of coordination and lack of…

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The financial impact of COVID-19 on healthcare providers has been considerable. With experts predicting that half of all US hospitals would be operating in the red by the end of 2020, healthcare leaders have had to seek multiple ways to cut costs. The expansion of single-use medical device (SUD) reprocessing…

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The 2021 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)/ASC Final Payment Rule was released on December 1, 2020, and became effective as of January 1, 2021. Gina Throneberry, MBA, RN, CASC, CNOR, director of education and clinical affairs, Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), summarized the status of Medicare regulations and…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers from Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, finds that in the first 9 weeks of in-person classes in North Carolina schools, there was extremely limited within-school secondary transmissions of COVID-19. The researchers examined 11 school districts with more than 90,000 students…

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Editor's Note Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert R. Redfield, MD, on January 12, signed an order to expand the requirement for a negative COVID-19 test to all airline passengers entering the US. The order, which will become effective January 26, requires that: Airline passengers get a…

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