Editor's Note The Centers Medicare & Medicaid Services on October 6 released final rules on “meaningful use” for electronic health records. The rules cover three components of the electronic health records meaningful use program: It finalizes modifications to stages 1 and 2, covers requirements for stage 3, and it addresses the…
Editor's Note A study presented at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting found that performing spine procedures in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) can reduce costs while sustaining patient satisfaction scores, Spine Surgery Today reports. Of 1,000 spine procedures performed in an ASC, eight patients had to be transferred to…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on October 5 ordered three manufacturers of duodenoscopes marketed in the US to study the reprocessing of their devices in the clinical setting where they are used. The three manufacturers—Olympus America, Inc; Fujifilm Medical Systems, USA, Inc; and Hoya Corp (Pentax Life Care…
Editor's Note A new Government Accountability Office report shows that hospital performance on most quality measures was improving before the Affordable Care Act’s Hospital Value-based Purchasing (VBP) program began in 2012 and has not noticeably changed since then, according to the AHA News. Most inpatient prospective payment system hospitals eligible…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on October 2 categorized the recall of PROFEMUR Neck Varus/Valgus CoCr 8 degree, Part number PHAC 1254, by MicroPort Orthopedics as Class I, the most serious. The company has received reports of unexpected fractures after surgery related to this modular neck. If the…
Editor's Note The incidence of unnecessary surgery for lung cancer diagnosed with CT-based screening is low (0.30%), this study finds. CT screening for lung cancer in long-term smokers is recommended by experts and is now covered by Medicare and some private insurers. However, there has been concern that wider adoption…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission has issued a new Sentinel Event Alert on patient falls. The alert examines the contributing factors to falls and suggests solutions to be implemented by healthcare organizations to help reduce falls and falls with injury. Any patient of any age or physical ability can be…
Editor's Note Postoperative hip fracture patients are more likely to be successfully discharged home if they are rehabilitated in centers that care for at least 25 hip fracture patients per year, this study finds. Successful discharge was 43.7% for high-volume facilities (> 24 admissions/year) vs 18.8% for low-volume facilities (1-6…
Editor's Note A surgeon’s transformational leadership skills were associated with improved OR team behavior, in this study. Each one-point increase in a surgeon’s transformational score corresponded to three times more information-sharing behaviors and nearly five and a half times more voice behaviors among the team members. With each one-point increase…
Editor's Note Specific hospital resources can overcome the weekend effect seen in urgent general surgery procedures, this study finds. Resources that were predictors for overcoming the weekend effect included: full adoption of electronic medical records, home health program, pain management program, increased RN-to-bed ratio, and inpatient physical rehabilitation. The study…
