Editor's Note The wildfire smoke blanketing the Los Angeles region poses significant longer-term health and economic consequences, according to a January 10 article in Bloomberg. Already, the fires have displaced nearly 180,000 people and cost up to $20 million in insured losses, the outlet reports. What remains to be seen…

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Editor's Note Implementing targeted interventions in hospitals can address common disruptions in the inpatient setting and significantly improve patient restfulness, according to a December 12 article in HealthLeaders Media. The article focuses on a study of nearly 700 patients conducted at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and published in…

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Editor's Note To support healthcare organizations in implementing proactive risk management strategies, The Joint Commission has issued Sentinel Event Alert, “Environmental disasters: Preparing to safely evacuate or shelter in place.” As detailed in a November 13 press release, this alert outlines steps for healthcare organizations to consider as they prepare…

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Editor's Note In 2023, hospitals and surgical centers saved more than $465 million and prevented nearly 98 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing reprocessed single-use medical devices, according to a survey by the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR). DotMed reported the news October 21. The data indicate…

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Editor's Note If global healthcare were a country, it would rank as the fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. So says Dr. Sofya Asfaw, a trauma and critical care surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, in a JAMA Network video on “greening” the OR. Published July 17, the short film features experts like…

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Editor's Note Joint Commission International (JCI) and the International Hospital Federation's Geneva Sustainability Centre (GSC) have introduced a new Healthcare Sustainability Certification (HSC) for healthcare organizations outside the U.S., according to a September 11 report from The Joint Commission. The goal of the new initiative is to address the nearly…

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Editor's Note The rising frequency of wildfires has anesthesiologists concerned about potential for adverse surgical outcomes to exposed patients, according to an article in the Online First edition of Anesthesiology,  the peer-reviewed journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). As of an August 6 report from ASA, nearly 100…

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Editor's Note The Red Cross is reporting a 25-percent drop in its national blood inventory due to hot weather a month after the American Hospital Association (AHA) warned about the impact of cyberattacks on critical supplies at hospitals. According to an August 6 report in The Hill, heat-related challenges have…

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Editor's Note  The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has updated its standard on ethylene oxide (EO) sterilizers for healthcare facilities, according to a June 12 press release. The first update in two decades, the fourth edition ANSI/AAMI ST24:2024 covers labeling, safety, performance, and testing requirements for general-purpose…

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More than 4 years after personal protective equipment production and inventories crashed amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the “new normal” in healthcare supply chains seems to be “uncertainty.” Although hospital margins are improving and patient volumes are trending upward, “stress fractures continue to remain in place,” says Michael Schiller, CMRP,…

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