CMS delays Hospital Quality Star Ratings update until July
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…
CMS cuts payments to 764 hospitals with high rates of HACs
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.…
Cardiovascular considerations before elective noncardiac surgery in COVID-19 patients
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…
Providing preoperative virtual education to providers, patients
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…
The Joint Commission updates 2022 ORYX performance measure requirements
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on December 15, announced that it had updated its 2022 ORYX performance measure reporting requirements for accredited critical access hospitals and hospitals, effective January 1, 2022. Among the updates: The Joint Commission’s new Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) will be available for hospitals to submit…
Mastering surveys by The Joint Commission, CMS during COVID-19 pandemic
The 2021 OR Manager Conference in Chicago saw John R. Rosing, MHA, FACHE, executive vice president and principal of Patton Healthcare Consulting, Naperville, Illinois, give his annual update on mastering Joint Commission standards and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) regulations. The past 2 years of COVID-19 restrictions have delayed…
Patient preferences for telehealth in post-COVID-19 healthcare
Editor's Note This survey study by the RAND Corporation finds that participants were willing to use telehealth for visits but preferred in-person care, and those who preferred telehealth were more sensitive to out-of-pocket costs. Of 2,080 survey participants, 66.5% preferred at least some telehealth visits in the future, but 53%…
New value-based models allow for surgeon buy-in, cost savings
The growth of value-based healthcare models is changing the way physicians and hospitals provide care. In value-based models, providers are paid based on patient outcomes. The “value” is derived from measuring health outcomes against the cost of delivering the outcomes. This balancing act has now become more achievable with new…
Block time strategies help maximize robot utilization, service line
Improving patient outcomes and providing a superior experience for patients were at the forefront of the decision to grow the robotics service line at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC), Gainesville. Expanding from one da Vinci S system by Intuitive and six robotics surgeons covering five specialties in 2008 to four…
Sleep disorders linked to more severe COVID-19 outcomes
Editor's Note In this study, Cleveland Clinic researchers find that patients with certain sleep disorders have more severe outcomes from COVID-19. The analysis included 5,402 patients. Although patients with sleep-disordered breathing and sleep-related hypoxia did not have an increased risk of developing COVID-19, they had a worse clinical prognosis from…
Free Daily News
- Experimental brain implant translates thoughts to speech
- Nurses deem flexible, transparent scheduling key to satisfaction, retention
- OR Manager 2025 Career/Salary Survey offers opportunities to learn, give back
- The Joint Commission revises volume criteria for cardiac, stroke certifications
- Pulse oximetry monitoring at home found to save lives of high-risk opioid surgery patients
- New data suggest same-day discharge is safe for joint replacement patients with atrial fibrillation
- FBI investigates as Oracle health data breach exposes patient information
- Study: Pulse oximeters may misestimate oxygen saturation in darker skin tones
- FDA issues Class 1 recall for vascular cannulas
- Renewed push for healthcare price transparency faces familiar challenges