Uncategorized Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on August 14 that accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals will be able to supplement local data with data acquired from Medicare-certified hospitals and critical access hospitals for the purposes of practitioner credentialing, privileging, and evaluation (focused and ongoing). The supplemental data may not…
Editor's Note Hospital revisits (ie, treat-and-discharge visits to ED, observation stays, or inpatient readmissions) within 30 days of discharge have increased since implementation of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), this study finds. Though hospital readmissions have dropped since HRRP was implemented as part of the Affordable Care Act, there…
Editor's Note With millennials soon to make up 50% of the workforce, it is essential to recognize how the millennial nurses’ values and expectations shape their viewpoints to consider or reject leadership roles, this study finds. For the study, a national sample of 25 millennial nurse managers were interviewed on…
Editor's Note This Welltok survey of more than 1,000 workers found that 78% of millennials wanted their employers to do more to support their health and well-being. When millennials were questioned on incentives for participating in well-being programs: 64% favored additional vacation time 56% said wellness benefits 53% wanted flexible…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced August 7 that the applicability of its Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation standards for telehealth organizations, which provide remote services, deploy in-person staff, and/or have equipment used between patients, is being evaluated. In the meantime, areas of noncompliance related to infection control, equipment and utility…
Editor's Note Employment in US hospitals fell by 0.04% (2,100 jobs) in July to a seasonally adjusted 5,238,900, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on August 2. That’s still up 93,000 more employees than a year ago. Overall, healthcare employment has increased 405,300 in the past year. The overall unemployment…
Editor's Note Contaminated duodenoscopes have transmitted drug-resistant infections to hundreds of patients, and now some experts are urging the Food & Drug Administration to force manufacturers to develop duodenoscopes that can be properly sterilized or single-use duodenoscopes or take duodenoscopes off the market, the August 6 New York Times Reports.…
Editor's Note In its proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would give Medicare patients better access to innovative devices beginning next year, the July 30 MassDevice reports. CMS also says it might pay more for “certain transformative new devices” for inpatients, using a new technology add-on…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 29 issued the 2020 proposed payment rule for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), which would increase Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system rates by 2.7%. CMS is also proposing to add eight codes to…
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on July 22 issued a final guidance for makers of products that combine devices and drugs or biologics. The guidance clarifies how manufacturers should comply with recordkeeping requirements and how they should submit safety reports and avoid duplication.
