Uncategorized Editor's Note This study found that hospital-acquired pressure ulcers add 44% to the cost of major surgical hospital stays, but the amount varies depending on length of stay. Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases and the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System for 2011…
Editor's Note Appendectomy is cost-effective for abscessed appendicitis in patients less than 34 years old, this study finds. For an 18-year-old patient, appendectomy costs $9,417.22 with a gain of 16.59 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), compared with no appendectomy, which costs $11,613.57 with a gain of 16.52 QALYs. For a 35-year-old…
Editor's Note Patients in rural hospitals are significantly (14%) more likely than nonrural patients to die after traumatic injuries, this study finds. The disparity was greatest for injuries occurring in the South and Midwest and for cases with an injury severity score of <9 or unknown severity. Distance and time…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on August 2 issued its final rule for the FY 2017 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS), which increases rates by 0.95%. The 0.95% increase reflects the projected hospital market basket update of 2.7% for those hospitals that were meaningful users…
Editor's Note For four cardiovascular and four cancer procedures, surgeon specialization was an important predictor of operative mortality, independent of volume, this study finds. Analyzing Medicare data for more than 25,000 surgeons and nearly 700,000 patients, the relative risk reduction from greater specialization in the cardiovascular procedures ranged from 15%…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 2 released its inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) final rule for FY 2017. In the rule, CMS kept a controversial 1.5% cut to hospital reimbursement, which aims to collect $11 billion in overpayments, the August 2 Modern Healthcare…
Editor's Note A survey by Loftware, Inc (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), shows that only 15% of medical device companies are currently compliant with the next phase of the Food and Drug Administration's Unique Device Identification (UDI) regulation, the August 3 PRWEB reports. The deadline is September 24. Of 120 companies polled,…
Editor's Note US News & World Report on August 2 released it 27th Annual Best Hospitals list, which compares nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures, or conditions. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is Number 1 this year, followed by the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and the…
Editor's Note The Center for Orthopedic Research and Education (CORE Institute), a group of orthopedic surgeons and neurologists based in Phoenix, Arizona, will be collaborating with the Joint Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on an infection prevention initiative for freestanding ambulatory healthcare settings, the July…
Our TakeThis study found a strong association between spinal anesthesia and lower 30-day mortality along with a shorter length of stay after total hip and knee replacement. Of 10,868 patients analyzed, 8,553 had spinal anesthesia and 2,315 had general anesthesia. The 30-day mortality rate was 0.19% in the spinal anesthesia…
