Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 21 announced an update of its policy on notification of changes in accredited organizations, which will take effect October 1. Previously, organizations had to notify the Joint Commission within 30 days after a significant change. The new policy requires organizations to provide written…

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Editor's Note A novel model by researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, uses natural language processing to predict readmission risk by incorporating physical function, cognitive status, and psychosocial support--three areas that may impact readmission but are poorly captured with structured data sources. The final model had 16 variables, a…

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Editor's Note At 10 years, prostate cancer mortality was low irrespective of the treatment, and with no significant difference among monitoring (1.5 deaths/1,000 person years), surgery (0.9/1,000), or radiotherapy (0.7/1,000), finds this study. Radical prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy were associated with lower incidences of disease progression and metastases than…

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Editor's Note Physicians and nurses involved in a patient safety incident experience significant negative outcomes, this study finds. Of 5,788 nurses and physicians analyzed, 9% had been involved in an incident during the prior 6 months. Involvement in a patient safety incident was linked to: a greater risk of burnout…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on September 13 announced that 30-day patient readmissions fell by an estimated 565,000 over 5 years, from 2010 to 2015. Rates declined by more than 5% in 43 states and by more than 10% in 11 states. The only state…

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Editor's Note In this study of patients having transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), younger age, male gender, history of diabetes, and moderate to severe residual aortic regurgitation were significantly associated with an increased risk of infective endocarditis. Patients who developed endocarditis had high rates of in-hospital and 2-year mortality. Of…

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Editor's Note Using a computerized mathematical model, Johns Hopkins researches investigated whether they could improve heart and lung transplants by transferring patients from low- to high-volume transplant centers. Among the findings: For heart transplants, 10 lives were saved after one center closure, and 240 lives were saved after up to…

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Editor's Note A total of 86% of general public respondents to a national survey want 16-hour shifts for first-year residents to remain, and 80% support dropping the maximum shift limit for second-year residents and above from 28 hours to 16 hours. The survey was conducted by Public Citizen, an independent…

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Editor's Note Researchers at Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, are conducting a clinical trial to test the effect of administering antiviral therapy to organ recipients after being transplanted with kidneys infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The first participant received a kidney transplant in July, and after being treated with Zepatier…

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Editor's Note Postoperative readmissions are difficult to predict when the patient is discharged, and of the information available at that time, preoperative factors are the most important, this study finds. Of nearly 240,000 surgical patients included in the analysis, 43% were orthopedic, 39% were general, and 18% were vascular. The…

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