Low-cost, high-volume services account for most of unnecessary healthcare spending
Editor's Note Low-cost, high-volume healthcare services account for a high percentage of unnecessary spending, adding strain to the healthcare system, this study finds. In this analysis of 5.5 million patients in Virginia, researchers found that services providing no net health benefits cost the state’s healthcare system more than $586 million…
Comparison of internal medicine, general surgery residents’ postop risk assessments
Editor's Note Risk assessments of postoperative complications and death in surgically complex patients were not significantly different between internal medicine and general surgery residents in this study. However, both groups overestimated the risks compared with the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP) risk adjusted model.…
Two firms awarded grants to develop medical devices for children
Editor's Note The Philadelphia Pediatric Medical Device Consortium (PPMDC) has chosen two companies out of eight finalists to receive grants of $50,000 each to develop medical devices for children. The devices include a: speech generating system that allows hospitalized children who are unable to speak to communicate with clinicians handheld…
Diffusion, implementation of acute care surgery across the US
Editor's Note Acute care surgery (ie, an organized system of trauma, general surgery, and critical care) implementation has occurred unevenly across the US, with rural communities and regions the slowest, this study finds. Of 1,690 hospitals surveyed, 272 had implemented acute care surgery by 2015−an increase from 34 in 2001…
Mode of transport to hospital linked to mortality in penetrating trauma patients
Editor's Note Private vehicle transport was associated with a significantly lower likelihood of death compared with ground emergency medical services (EMS) transport for patients with gunshot and stab wounds in this study. In this analysis of 103,029 patients in the National Trauma Data Bank, 87.6% were male, 47.9% were black,…
Little change in physical activity after total joint surgery
Editor's Note Physical activity in total joint patients did not change at 6 months after surgery and small-moderate improvement was found at 12 months, despite large improvements in pain and quality of life, this meta-analysis finds. A total of seven studies (336 patients) were analyzed. Reasons for the lack of…
Editorial
Since July, when repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) stalled, healthcare reform has been somewhat overshadowed by events such as natural disasters and concerns about national security. Now, with insurers due to announce rates for the coming year, Congress is working on a bill to stabilize the…
PACU patient flow improves with CRNA assistance
Throughput inefficiencies are a growing problem in surgical services departments. Patients are held in the OR because there is no room in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), and patients are held in the PACU because there are no beds available in the patient care unit or because outpatients having major…
Efficiency efforts improve staff satisfaction with turnover time
Cost mitigation has become a priority in the American healthcare industry, and addressing inefficiencies is a popular way to curb the high cost of medical care. Decreasing turnover time between cases may pave the way for additional cases to be scheduled, theoretically leading to increased revenue for the hospital. However,…
No consensus on what defines a high-performing system
Editor's Note In this study, researchers reviewed literature from a 10-year period and found no consensus on what defines a high-performing healthcare delivery system or healthcare organization. High performance was variably defined across different dimensions, including: quality (93% of articles) cost (67%) access (35%) equity (26%) patient experience (21%) patient…
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