Editor's Note In this study, implementing a global change in safety culture resulted in a significant change in surgical patient outcomes as measured by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). After implementation of initiatives targeting communication and patient safety, surgical outcomes and culture scores…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized an update to its coverage policy for implantable cardiac devices (ICDs), the February 16 Modern Healthcare reports. The update expedites patient access by eliminating the waiting period for patients with an existing ICD to obtain a replacement device…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 14 announced that accredited hospitals should start thinking about electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) success stories to share in the 2018 Pioneers in Quality Proven Practices Collection. Proven Practices was launched last year and is a peer-to-peer sharing of specific practices that an…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on February 14 authorized marketing of the first blood test to help evaluate concussions in adults and reduce the need for CT scans. The Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator works by measuring levels of proteins (ie, UCH-L1 and GFAP) that are released from…

Read More

Editor's Note Purposeful completion (fidelity) of, more than adherence to, items in the surgical safety checklist diminished intraoperative delays in this study. Of 591 cases analyzed, 110 (19%) had at least one documented intraoperative delay. The majority were related to missing (50%) or malfunctioning (30%) equipment. Degree of fidelity was…

Read More

Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on February 13 announced that it is permitting the marketing of clinical decision support software that alerts providers to potential strokes in their patients. The Viz.AI Contact application is designed to analyze computed tomography images of the brain and send a text…

Read More

Editor's Note Implementation of an enhanced recovery pathway (ERP) for colorectal surgical patients substantially reduced length of stay, total hospital costs, and direct pharmacy costs without increasing complications or readmission rates in this study. The study, which included 160 colorectal patients before ERP was implemented and 146 patients after implementation,…

Read More

Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on January 22 announced the released its annual “Top 10 Hospital C-suite Watch List." Among the new and emerging innovations to watch are: Acuity-adaptable rooms, where hospitals keep a patient in the same room from admission to discharge, regardless of acuity level. Insertable cardiac monitors…

Read More

Editor's Note Surgeon volume of adult general surgical procedures was significantly associated with lower morbidity and costs after pediatric laparoscopic cholecystectomy in this study. Of 3,519 laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed in pediatric patients, the overall morbidity rate was 3.9%. High-volume general surgeons had an odds of all-cause morbidity that was 68%…

Read More

Concern about opioid abuse has reached epic proportions in recent months, and healthcare providers have come under increasing pressure to help mitigate the problem. Curbing the tendency to overprescribe pain medications is considered the first, most obvious step, but there are other actions that can also improve patient safety. Nurse…

Read More