Editor's Note The addition of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status to the risk-adjusted algorithm for readmissions after total hips and knees used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services led to a relative-performance change in readmission rates of <3% of 1,194 hospitals in this study. Policy makers and payers should…

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Editor's Note Implementation of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) helped reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) from 8.6% to 1.1% at the Medical University of South Carolina hospital, AHRQ reports. The hospital infection prevention team focused on achieving zero CAUTIs by improving…

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Editor's Note Nearly 20% of patients are discharged before all vital signs are stable, which is associated with an increased risk of readmission and death, this study finds. Of 32,835 patients from six Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, hospitals analyzed, researchers found abnormalities in temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and…

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Editor's Note For four cardiovascular and four cancer procedures, surgeon specialization was an important predictor of operative mortality, independent of volume, this study finds. Analyzing Medicare data for more than 25,000 surgeons and nearly 700,000 patients, the relative risk reduction from greater specialization in the cardiovascular procedures ranged from 15%…

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Editor's Note The high proportion of emergent surgical cases that require vascular repair demonstrates the importance of having vascular surgeons immediately available at the hospital, this study finds. Of 299 patients in 12 surgical subspecialties that were included in the study, there were indications for vascular surgery assistance in 156…

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Editor's Note Public reporting may discourage physicians from offering lifesaving treatment to patients who are at the greatest risk for mortality and poor outcomes, this study finds. Of 45,000 cardiac patients analyzed, the researchers found that physicians were 28% more likely to perform percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) on patients who…

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Editor's Note Surgeon buy-in and surgical teamwork were crucial in prompting case-related conversations but not in completing surgical safety checklists, this study finds. Of 207 procedures observed by 10 South Carolina hospitals, few teams completed most or all surgical safety checklist items. All measures of teamwork and surgeon buy-in related…

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Editor's Note A program for analyzing processes associated with catheter placement and removal for surgical patients decreased urinary tract infections (UTIs) for all hospitalized patients in this study presented at the 2016 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Conference in San Diego. The STOP UTI quality assessment…

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Editor's Note Patients who received high-quality discharge planning were less likely to be readmitted within 30 days, finds this study from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study of 2.1 million patients in 16 states, who were treated for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and total hip or…

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Editor's Note Implementing strategies to reduce the number of OR door openings during total hip and knee procedures helped lower surgical site infections (SSIs) in this study presented at the 2016 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Conference in San Diego. Strategies included stopping all traffic in…

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