Editor's Note This study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Nashville, Tennessee, demonstrates how detailed healthcare workers’ (HCWs’) personal or religious convictions are behind their vaccine avoidance. VUMC requires that all faculty and staff receive the influenza vaccine annually or receive an approved vaccine exemption. All personal and religious exemption…

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Editor's Note The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), on May 18, released a new perioperative medication safety self assessment to help hospitals, ASCs, and other surgery settings evaluate their medication practices and identify challenges and opportunities for improvement. The tool also offers providers a way to document compliance with…

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Editor's Note This survey study of US adults found that many were averse to their information being used on digital platforms to mitigate COVID-19 transmission. Of 6,284 adults surveyed, 3,547 responded, for a completion rate of 56%. Approval was generally low (28% to 43%) for use of consumer digital data…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced May 17 that it has extended the Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) program data submission deadline from Monday, May 17, to Monday, July 19, 2021. The extension provides ASCs with more time to obtain HARP [Health Care Quality…

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A year ago at this time, healthcare facilities were busy resuming elective procedures that had been put on hold because of COVID-19—a feat that required agility, innovation, and collaboration to ensure staff and patient safety amid the ongoing pandemic. It’s remarkable that multiple vaccines have since been developed and administered…

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Editor's Note Opioids prescribed after outpatient surgery are going down, but still do not meet expert recommendations, a new study from Epic Health Research Network finds. The researchers examined the median number of opioid tablets prescribed after outpatient surgical procedures between January 2017 and December 2020. For four orthopedic procedures,…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons on May 17 announced that May 20 is the fourth annual national STOP THE BLEED® day. In the US and around the world, more than 1.5 million people have been trained to STOP THE BLEED®, and nearly 80,000 have become instructors. This year,…

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Editor's Note Urban hospitals bounced back faster than rural hospitals from surgical caseload decreases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a new study released May 13 by Caresyntax, a Boston-based developer of surgical intelligence and automation technologies. The study, “The State of Surgery: An Analysis of Surgical Trends During the…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 13 announced that fully vaccinated individuals can discard masks and do away with social distancing outdoors and in most indoor settings. The agency still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings, such as buses, planes, hospitals, prisons, and…

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Editor's Note The New York Times (NYT) reported on May 11 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new guidelines for mask wearing are misleading because they treat outdoor transmission of COVID-19 as a major risk. The CDC reports that less than 10% of COVID-19 transmissions are occurring…

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