Uncategorized Editor's Note The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on July 12 that it will hold an emergency meeting—the second emergency meeting convened—next week to determine the global health risk of monkeypox, CNBC July 12 reports. The organization decided not to declare monkeypox a global health emergency just last month, noted…
Editor's Note The American Hospital Association (AHA) will present this year’s Quest for Quality Prize to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH) on July 18 at the AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego. UH is receiving the award because of its data-driven quality and safety improvements and innovative strategies to…
Editor's Note A female patient in Chicago, Illinois, filed a lawsuit on July 7 against the multinational UnitedHealth Group for alleged underpayment of telehealth services, Becker’s Payer Issues July 8 reports. The lawsuit claims that the woman’s insurance plan covers telehealth services, including pay benefits for-out-network services. After receiving out-of-network…
Editor's Note Scientists at UC San Diego and Scripps Research have developed tools to analyze wastewater that have proven effective in identifying emerging COVID-19 variants and predicting surges. COVID-19 patients shed the virus in their stool, whether they have symptoms or not. In the summer of 2020 the scientists began…
Editor's Note Three cases of the newest Omicron subvariant BA.2.75 have been detected on the West Coast, two in California and one in Washington, the July 11 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The subvariant is also in India and 10 other countries. The subvariant has a large number of mutations that…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on July 6, announced a new online toolkit, the “Readiness Roadmap,” that will help organizations locate resources for survey or review based on where they are in their accreditation, certification, or verification process. The toolkit, which is available on The Joint Commission’s Connect extranet site…
Editor's Note After this October 2020 peer-reviewed study, titled “Disposable versus reusable medical gowns: A performance comparison,” found that “isolation gowns commonly worn in medical units or intensive care units ripped too easily and allowed about four to 14 times the expected amount of liquid to seep through when sprayed…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule for 2023, “which suggests further cuts to physician pay while inflation and the cost of running an independent practice continue to rise,” Becker’s ASC Review July 8 reports. The proposed rule would…
Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on July 6 that it would alter its emergency use authorization for the Paxlovid pill—Pfizer’s oral antiviral pill used by some to treat COVID-19—to allow pharmacists to prescribe the treatment to recently affected individuals directly. According to Fierce Pharma July…
Editor's Note According to a report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), economic activity in the hospital subsector grew in June for the 25th consecutive month, Healthcare Purchasing News July 7 reports. Following are some observations, according to Nancy LeMaster, MBA, ISM chair for the Hospital Business Survey Committee:…
