Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on March 30, announced that it had contracted with Dynamic Health IT to help develop a new Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) and electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) engine. The DDSP will facilitate submission of quality measurement data directly to The Joint Commission from approximately…

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Editor's Note In this meta-analysis, researchers from Germany and Australia find that music-making and listening interventions are associated with positive changes in health-related quality of life. The systematic review and meta-analysis included 779 participants from 26 studies. Music interventions (ie, music listening, music therapy, singing, and gospel music) were linked…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on March 23 announced that it is developing new and revised requirements on reducing healthcare disparities for its accreditation programs. A field review is open and seeking comments on the proposed new Leadership (LD) standard LD.04.03.08 as well as revisions to the Record of Care,…

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Editor's Note This study from Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, finds that a multicomponent safety intervention, consisting of patient education, home medication review, and hazard identification in the home environment, was not associated with reductions in falls during the first year after an elective inpatient surgical procedure, but…

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Editor's Note This multi-center, randomized, clinical trial that compares on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with off-pump CABG finds no advantage for off-pump CABG. A total of 2,203 veterans were randomly assigned to off-pump (1,104) or on-pump (1,099) CABG procedures at 18 VA medical centers, and the veterans were then…

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Editor's Note This study by UCLA researchers finds patient experiences with telehealth physician appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic were as positive as traditional face-to-face visits and phone visits, or even more so. The researchers surveyed 58,509 adult patients on their 13,928 primary care and 44,581 specialty physician visits at 197…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on February 11 announced it will delay updating the Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings on the Care Compare website until July, the American Hospital Association reports. The delay is needed so CMS can correct a calculation error in the CY…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 26 announced that 764 hospitals will face payment cuts in FY 2022 under its Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, the January 31 Advisory Board reports. Hawaii and Idaho were the only states whose hospitals did not receive penalties.…

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Editor's Note In this viewpoint, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine, note that it is unclear whether cardiovascular complications associated with COVID-19 persist beyond the acute phase of illness and whether a history of COVID-19 warrants any additional preoperative cardiac assessments before having elective surgery. They review the literature…

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The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons projects that total hip replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR) procedures will increase to 635,000 and 1.28 million, respectively, by 2030. That leads to a tremendous amount of Episode of Care opportunities. How can we as clinicians ensure the best possible experience for…

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