ORs are at the heart of healthcare organizations, where critical decisions are made, often under immense pressure. This pressure has escalated with ever-increasing demands, growing complexities, and the constant requirement for innovative solutions. In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the emerging generative AI…

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Healthcare facilities face challenges in the recall process of tissue, non-biologic implants, and medical devices because of their time-sensitive nature and inherent risks to patient safety and compliance. Hospitals often use secondary sources for recall notifications. These lists, however, do not include two critical pieces—the identification of affected patient cases…

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Hospitals and health systems are feeling the effects of the staffing shortage now more than ever. In a recent study, 90% of nurses considered leaving the nursing profession within a year. Even further, 71% of RNs with over 15 years of experience reported thinking about leaving as soon as possible.…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on April 5, posted a clarification on the time frame for querying the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). Among the revisions: Medical Staff (MS) Standard MS.06.01.07, Element of Performance (EP) 9 and Standard MS.07.01.01, EP 3, on the time frame to evaluate a licensed practitioner’s…

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The medical device industry aims to create valuable innovations that help improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and improve efficiencies for OR staff. Because these technologies and devices have a myriad of benefits, improving speed to value is a top priority. A key component of extracting the full value of these…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on March 1 announced a revision to Performance Improvement (PI) standard PI:01.01.01, Element of Performance (EP) 4, which has to do with data collection on significant discrepancies between preoperative and postoperative diagnoses. The revision was made after healthcare organizations expressed confusion with the requirement. The…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, National Committee for Quality Assurance, and National Quality Forum announced, February 22, the release of a joint statement on digital health data exchange of social determinants of health (SDOH) assessments.  The statement begins with: “Collecting and exchanging data on SDOH connects individuals, healthcare organizations, and…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 22 announced the opening of the CY 2022 Direct Data Submission Platform. The opening had been delayed to improve its stability. The delay extends submission deadlines for CY 2022 data and delays the opening of the platform for CY 2023 data. The new…

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Editor's Note In this study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and by Beth Virnig, PhD, MPH, dean of the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, data shows that ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations have more than doubled from 2016 to 2021, Healthcare Purchasing…

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Editor's Note Healthcare organizations in the US have seen almost 5,000 data breaches since 2009, notes a cybersecurity report from technology research company Comparitech published in August 2022. According to the report, these medical breaches have led to 342 million medical records being leaked. Here are some key findings from…

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