Editor's Note In this study, the composition of the anesthesia care team (anesthesiologist plus nurse anesthetist or anesthesiologist assistant) was not associated with any significant differences in mortality, length of stay, or inpatient spending. Of 443,098 Medicare beneficiaries who had inpatient surgery between 2004 and 2011, the adjusted mortality for…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on October 3 announced that key updates are now available for its 2019 ORYX performance measurement program reporting requirements. The Joint Commission continues to align its performance measure reporting requirements with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which published its 2019 Inpatient Prospective Payment…

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Editor's Note In this multicenter, randomized controlled trial from the Netherlands, physical therapy was noninferior to early arthroscopic partial menisectomy for improving knee function in patients with nonobstructive meniscal tears. In this analysis of 321 (159 surgery, 162 physical therapy) patients, knee function improved by 20.4 points in the physical…

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Editor's Note In cardiac surgery patients at moderate-to-high risk for death, a restrictive strategy for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion was equivalent to a liberal strategy, with respect to death from any cause, myocardial infarction, stroke, or renal failure, at 6-months follow-up, this study finds. There also were no significant…

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Editor's Note Automated performance metrics can distinguish surgeon expertise during anastomoses and create an objective, standardized way to train new surgeons, this study finds. Researchers used a data recorder plugged into a robotic surgery system to evaluate expert and novice surgeons’ movements for 70 vesicourethral anastomoses (total of 1,745 stitches)…

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Editor's Note The Massachusetts state regulation of 1:1 or 2:1 patient-to-nurse staffing ratios in intensive care units (ICUs), as guided by patient complexity scores, was not linked with either increased nurse staffing or changes in patient outcomes, this study finds. Examining records from 246 medical centers nationwide, and comparing patient…

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Editor's Note When used after terminal cleaning, the pulsed-xenon ultraviolet light (PX-UV) significantly reduced contamination on high-touch surfaces in the OR, this study finds. This analysis included 1,464 surface samples from 136 ORs at 23 hospitals after terminal cleaning and again after PX-UV disinfection. Results showed the average colony forming…

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Editor's Note Use of a standardized, electronic nursing handoff communication process resulted in decreased boarding time in the emergency department (ED) and increased bed flow efficiency, this study finds. Before implementation of the electronic nursing handoff process, the average ready to move-to-occupied time was 83.6 minutes. This decreased to 49…

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Editor's Note A deal has been signed by Olympus with FlexDex Surgical to distribute its wrist-controlled Needle Driver robotic device, the August 23 Medical Design & Outsourcing reports. The FlexDex Needle Driver, which is used to streamline suturing in areas of the abdomen that are hard to access, will complement…

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Editor's Note This year’s three winners of the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) challenge included assistive surgical devices: First place−$20,000 went to a team from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, for a minimally invasive brain retractor. Second place−$15,000 was awarded to a team from Clemson University, South Carolina, for a…

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