Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) is a comprehensive, multifaceted, and multidisciplinary approach to the care of the surgical patient. ERAS bundles evidence-based elements to facilitate a faster recovery with fewer complications.1 Spanning the continuum of perioperative care, ERAS elements include: • patient engagement and education • preoperative optimization of nutrition…

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About 2 years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. As I researched the treatment alternatives, I became very concerned about the complications associated with traditional surgical prostatectomy or radiation. Then I learned that I might be eligible for an outpatient procedure: high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Although HIFU is relatively…

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Editor's Note Overlapping, nonconcurrent surgery was not associated with an increase in serious unanticipated events in this study. Of 61,525 surgical procedures performed over 1 year at a large academic medical center, a total of 8,391 patients had any overlap (beginning or end) and were matched on 11 variables. Compared…

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Healthcare workers are at risk for bloodborne pathogen exposures in areas ranging from the clinic to the OR—both inpatient and outpatient settings. Such exposures not only cause anxiety, they cost an estimated $3,000 to $5,000 per exposure for things such as baseline and follow-up laboratory testing, treatment of exposed personnel,…

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Editor's Note This study finds that the amount of opioids prescribed for patients after cardiothoracic surgery has a direct relationship with the risk for opioid dependence and persistent opioid use several months after surgery. Of nearly 25,000 opioid-naïve Medicare patients analyzed, 15.7% of patients who had lung surgery and 12.5%…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on August 21 posted a reminder for accredited hospitals with electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) requirements that they must submit CY 2019 eCQM data via the Direct Data Submission (DDS) Platform. The deadline to onboard to the DDS Platform is December 20, 2019, and the…

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Editor's Note A new surgical risk/benefit calculator that can predict a bariatric/metabolic patient’s possibility of postoperative remission at 1 year for five weight-related comorbidities will soon be released by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), the American College of Surgeons (ACS) announced on August 20.…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 19 announced that it plans to update the quality measurement methodology of the Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings in 2021. The Star Ratings are located on CMS’ Hospital Compare website. While the new methodology is being finalized, CMS…

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Editor's Note In this study, experts graded the four major publicly reported hospital quality rating systems on their strengths and weaknesses−most received a C and the highest was a B. The grades were: US News & World Report−B Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Star Ratings−C Leapfrog−C- Healthgrades−D+. The researchers found that…

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Editor's Note Patients who had complex surgical procedures for cancer at community hospitals that were affiliated with top-ranked cancer hospitals were less likely to die within 90 days after surgery than patients treated at nonaffiliated hospitals, this study finds. Data for more than 14,000 Medicare patients showed 90-day mortality after…

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