Editor's Note Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University Hospital Dresden (UKD) have developed a portable, droplet-based millifluidic device that can monitor patients for postoperative pancreatic fistula in the critical first days after surgery. The same technology might also be expanded to analyze other body fluids and diseases.…

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Editor's Note Large healthcare systems considering a centralized Value Analysis Committee (VAC) model potentially have much to learn from a 10-hospital organization operating in the Washington, DC and Maryland region. MedStar Health System’s still-ongoing transition from multiple, facility-based improvement committees is the subject of one of the first posters to…

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Editor's Note Establishing an environment of continuous improvement is crucial to the quality of patient care, speakers told attendees during this Monday afternoon session at the OR Manager Conference. They shared how they improved the quality of care with a performance improvement initiative targeting first case on-time starts (FCOTS). Matthew…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on August 23, announced that updated Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports are available for hospitals, critical access hospitals, and nursing centers. The reports provide performance measurement data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on a select subset of quality measures through the second quarter…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on August 9, announced that it is revising a performance measure for the advanced Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement (THKR) Certification Program—THKR-5: Postoperative Functional/Health Status Assessment—to align with a similar Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) measure. The recently adopted CMS performance measure—Hospital-Level,…

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Editor's Note The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), on August 1, released new interactive tools and resources to help collect patient data in advance of mandatory reporting periods. Orthopedic care teams are urged to take note because patient-reported outcome measures (eg, pain, physical mobility, emotional well-being, and experience of…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on July 5, announced that the Primary Stroke Center (PSC) Certification performance measure Stroke Volume (STK-VOL-1) is being renamed to Ischemic Stroke Patients who Receive Mechanical Endovascular Reperfusion Therapy, which removes the word “eligible” from the title. The change distinguishes ischemic stroke patients who receive…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on June 28, announced that refreshed Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports are now available for primary (PSCs) and comprehensive (CSCs) stroke centers. The reports provide updated performance measurement data on quality measures selected for advanced PSC and CSC certification programs, through the fourth quarter of 2022.…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on June 28, announced that refreshed Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports containing data through the fourth quarter of 2021 are now available for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals. The reports come from chart-abstracted and electronic clinical quality measures data reported to The Joint Commission under…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on June 27, announced that it is starting a new voluntary Health care Equity Certification Program, effective July 1. The advanced certification recognizes hospitals for excellence in their efforts to provide equitable care, treatment, and services and builds on longstanding accreditation requirements that support healthcare…

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