Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on June 1 unveiled enhanced enforcement actions for nursing homes with violations of infection control practices. The enhanced and targeted accountability actions are based on trends in recent data regarding the incidence of COVID-19 in nursing homes and infection control…

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Editor's Note More than 28 million elective surgical procedures worldwide will be cancelled or postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study estimates. Researchers from the University of Birmingham, UK, collected data from surgeons in 359 hospitals and 71 countries. The data was then statistically modeled to estimate…

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Editor's Note As states begin to ease restrictions imposed by COVID-19, physicians, nurse leaders, and administrators face a momentous challenge in resuming elective surgical procedures. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center developed a model that made best use of available data (eg, case logs, forecasts, etc). Adoption of an agile methodology—a…

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The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on all aspects of healthcare delivery worldwide. For children’s hospitals, the crisis has created unique challenges in ensuring patient and provider safety as well as helping to contain the spread of COVID-19 through their communities. According to the Centers for Disease Control…

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Coronavirus cases in the US topped 1 million in late April. Although total numbers of cases and deaths change daily and vary greatly among urban vs rural regions of the country, it’s safe to say we haven’t yet seen the last of the surges. Despite ongoing shortages of personal protective…

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Although COVID-19 cases are still emerging in many parts of the country, some businesses have reopened and some elective procedures are once again being performed. Many events that did not take place in the spring will be held in the fall, including the annual OR Manager Conference, September 30 to…

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that led the United States to declare a national emergency and implement a ban on all elective diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, as well as elective surgery in inpatient and outpatient settings. On March 19, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) released guidance…

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The fast-paced environment in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) requires meticulous handoffs, and daily huddles—brief (10 to 20 minute) stand-up meetings—can raise awareness of any potential safety issues. That has been the experience at UnityPoint Health in Des Moines, Iowa, and some of what we learned might help others improve…

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Editor's Note The spread of COVID-19 in the US could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in direct medical costs, according to this study partially funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Using AHRQ data and other sources, researchers developed computer models to simulate the financial…

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The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented strains on hospitals and healthcare systems, leaving many organizations with limited resources to care for severely ill patients. States, regions, hospitals, and health systems have had to reassess their resources, identify bottlenecks, and develop strategies for increasing critical care capacity. Creating the critical care…

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