Editor's Note This study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, finds that in the COVID-19 pandemic’s early phases, most deaths were in older people, but in 2021, deaths in younger people increased while deaths in older people decreased. The researchers, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data,…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 23 announced that it had updated its 2023 ORYX performance measure reporting requirements, effective January 1, 2023. Key updates for hospitals and critical access hospitals include: Three new electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs)—hospital harm, severe hypoglycemia; hospital harm, severe hyperglycemia; and ST-segment elevation…

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Editor's Note  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new memorandum on November 28 emphasizing the importance of enforcing regulations and expectations to create a safe environment for hospital staff when delivering patient care, the American Hospital Association reported on November 28. According to the memo, the…

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Editor's Note This study, by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and California Department of Public Health, finds significant increases in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in California acute-care hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSIs). The researchers found…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration, on November 23, identified the recall by Baxter Hillrom of its WatchCare Incontinence Management System (IMS) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk for radiofrequency (RF) emissions from WatchCare devices that may interfere with other devices,…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 16 identified the recall by Insulet of its Omnipod DASH Insulin Management System Personal Diabetes Manager (PDM) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of PDM battery issues, including: Battery swelling Fluid leakage from the battery…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on November 4 posted the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) reported by US hospitals in 2021. The report showed that rates for four of six tracked infections had increased: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) increased 7%, with the largest increase…

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Editor's Note This French study finds that persistent symptoms were still present in 10.1% of COVID-19 infected individuals at 1 year. Of 53,047 study participants analyzed, 3,972 (2,531 women) with a mean age of 50.9 years had been infected with COVID-19. Of these, 2,647 reported at least one symptom during…

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Editor's Note This study from the Cleveland Clinic finds that COVID-19-positive patients have a higher risk of postoperative mortality, and risk factors should be carefully evaluated before intervention. The analysis included 2,543 patients who had 3,027 surgical procedures. About half of the patients were male with a mean age of…

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Editor's Note The International Committee of the Red Cross plans to create a digital symbol, similar to its distinctive red symbol, as a warning sign to hackers who attempt to break into hospital networks, The Wall Street Journal November 4 reports. The Red Cross proposed three different options at a…

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