Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Amneal Pharmaceuticals' Abbreviated New Drug Application for single-dose vials of propofol injectable emulsion, Anesthesiology News August 23 reports. The newly approved formulations include 200 mg/20 mL, 500 mg/50 mL, and 1,000 mg/100 mL vials. Propofol is widely used for anesthesia and…

Read More

I still recall being handed roughly 10 boxes of suture anchors to practice with years ago at New York University (NYU) medical school. “Aren’t these needed here?” I asked incredulously. “Not at all,” came the answer, despite a hefty price tag of $1,000 per box. In fact, getting the suture…

Read More

Editor's Note Healthcare providers should consider strategies to conserve BD BACTEC blood culture media bottles for patients at highest risk due to an ongoing shortage, according to a July 10 report from The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Attributing the shortage to supplier issues, FDA warns that the disruption…

Read More

Editor's Note Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health who has been monitoring drug shortages for over 20 years, spoke to AP News in June of her concerns. Currently, the situation is worse than ever, with total active shortages hitting an all-time high of 323 (with 48…

Read More

Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is one of the most common procedures in the US. Performed more than 17.1 million times per year in inpatient and outpatient hospital settings as well as ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), GI procedures account for 68% of all endoscopies, according to a May 2022 article in Digestive…

Read More

Rural hospitals in the US have been facing a prolonged, multifaceted crisis. The literature presents several reasons for why healthcare facilities in rural areas struggle, including shrinking budgets, rising chronic illness and public health issues like addiction and obesity, poor telehealth and broadband access, aging populations, deteriorating mental health, and…

Read More

Are you part of the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) construction boom? Approximately 116 new facilities opened in 2023, according to Becker’s ASC Review, and more are planned for and underway in 2024. The upward trend shows no signs of slowing. Fortune Business Insights projects the US ambulatory surgery center market…

Read More

More than 4 years after personal protective equipment production and inventories crashed amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the “new normal” in healthcare supply chains seems to be “uncertainty.” Although hospital margins are improving and patient volumes are trending upward, “stress fractures continue to remain in place,” says Michael Schiller, CMRP,…

Read More

Editor's Note Released April 9 by the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) and KPMG LLP,  the KPMG Supply Chain Stability Index reveals an overall improvement in supply chain stability throughout 2023. However, points of weakness persist. According to the index, factors preventing a complete return to pre-pandemic normalcy include the…

Read More

From integrating new technology to navigating shifts in care delivery and mitigating burnout, the most pressing challenges for healthcare organizations tend to be multifaceted problems that demand multifaceted solutions. For evidence of that, look no further than the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2024 list from ECRI. For every risk…

Read More