Editor's Note Personal patient data could have been compromised in the May 8 cyberattack on Ascension, according to the latest update from the St. Louis-based healthcare system. Posted June 12, the update reveals that attackers accessed files from seven out of 25,000 file servers used for routine tasks, potentially containing…

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Editor's Note In esophageal cancer, combining preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy lead to better outcomes, fewer deaths, and higher likelihood of complete tumor regression than preoperative chemotherapy alone, according to a randomized clinical trial. US News and World Report reported the news June 4. Led by Dr. Jens Hoeppner from the…

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Editor's Note Using a patient’s stem cells to 3D-print patches to place over damaged areas of the heart could provide an alternative to invasive surgery, according to new research detailed in a June 9 report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Although the technology has yet to be tested on…

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Editor's Note AORN encourages perioperative leaders to speak up and reach out in honor of National Time Out Day, an annual recognition of the critical safety practice scheduled for June 12. The annual day of recognition draws attention to the need for everyone on the surgical team to pause before…

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Editor's Note An AI model that outperformed MRI and ultrasound in identifying patients with axillary breast cancer metastasis shows the technology’s potential to reduce the need for needle or surgical biopsies, according to developers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In a May 21 report on their new AI model, researchers…

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Editor's Note Ascension, a 140-hospital, St. Louis-based health system disrupted by a May 8 cyberattack, has announced that its electronic medical record (EHR) will be restored by June 14. Becker’s Health IT reported the news June 5. According to that article, the restoration of systems comes after medical records have…

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Editor's Note The median hospital margin of 3.8% for April is an improvement over the previous month and year-over-year, according to the latest National Hospital Flash Report from Kaufman Hall. Compiled by Kaufman and Syntellis Performance Solutions (now part of Strata), the monthly report analyzes 3 years’ worth of both…

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Editor's Note A retrospective cohort study found transplanting kidneys from donors who underwent dialysis resulted in no long-term differences in graft failure, kidney function, or death, but recipients had significantly higher risk for delayed graft function (DGF). According to a May 23 MedPage Today report on the study, originally published…

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Editor's Note Research shows perioperative weight loss does not consistently improve outcomes or OR times in patients undergoing primary bariatric procedures, including laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). The findings were published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Using…

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Editor's Note Change Healthcare is responsible for notifying affected parties about privacy breaches resulting from the February cyberattack on the company, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced May 31. The announcement took the form of an update to an FAQ webpage from HHS’ Office for Civil…

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