Healing healthcare: How clinician incentives can help get from volume to value
Takeaways • Although the central tenets of value-based healthcare have not changed, in many cases implementation has been reduced to little more than reducing costs, to the detriment of clinicians and patients. • The right incentives, such as recognition and work support, can effectively inspire clinicians to deliver high value…
Study links high surgeon stress, positive patient outcomes
Editor's Note Optimizing surgeon stress could enhance surgical performance and patient outcomes, according to a large cohort study published January 15 in JAMA Surgery. Researchers focused particularly on physiological markers of surgeon stress during the first 5 minutes of a procedure, revealing a significant inverse relationship with major patient complications.…
Wildfire smoke poses long-term health threats
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…
Study: Esophagectomy outcomes worse at private equity hospitals
Editor's Note A study published in JAMA Surgery revealed that hospitals owned by private equity firms had significantly worse outcomes for esophagectomy patients compared to non-acquired hospitals. As detailed in a January 2 report on the findings in MedPage Today, the analysis of over 9,000 cases highlights disparities in 30-day…
Study: Active monitoring without surgery safe for certain low-risk DCIS patients
Editor's Note Active monitoring for certain breast cancer patients offers similar outcomes to surgery with fewer side effects, according to research detailed in a December 16 article from Oncology News Central. Presented at the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and published in JAMA, The COMET trial supports the safety…
Data support option to skip sentinel lymph node biopsy in early breast cancer
Editor's Note Skipping sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients with clinically node-negative early breast cancer provides noninferior outcomes compared to undergoing the procedure, MedPage Today reported December 13. Presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the INSEMA trial found…
Study: Education, exercise improve knee OA with or without prior surgery
Editor's Note Knee osteoarthritis patients experience similar clinical outcomes from supervised education and exercise programs regardless of whether they have undergone knee surgery before, according to a study published in Clinical Rheumatology. Helio reported the news November 13. The cohort study analyzed data from 30,545 patients enrolled in the Good…
ACS recognizes 77 hospitals for excellence in surgical outcomes
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has recognized 77 US hospitals for “exceptional surgical outcomes” in 2023 based on performance metrics tracked as part of the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). According to an October 30 ACS announcement, these hospitals were selected from among 609 eligible…
Trump vs. Harris: Key differences in healthcare proposals for Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, abortion
Editor's Note When it comes to the 2024 presidential election, “Neither candidate addresses a return to the fundamental tenet of healthcare: the patient-physician relationship,” reads the closing line of an “election guide” from Richard Menger MD MPA. In the preceding paragraph, Menger also argues that both candidates also neglect issues…
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…
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