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Issue 27, July 1, 2020

• Coronavirus: 3 Steps for Reopening Ambulatory Surgery Centers

  Safety, managing surgery backlogs, and telemedicine are key elements of reopening...

• New National Quality Forum Report Focuses on Achieving Better Health Outcomes

  Despite leading the world in healthcare spending at more than $3.5 trillion of expenditures...

• Check for New SAG, Remember TJC Standard Revisions Effective July 1

  Remember to keep checking for a new Survey Activity Guide (SAG) from The Joint Commission (TJC...

Issue 26, June 25, 2020

• New research identifies risk factors for physician suicide

  Compared to the general population, physicians who die by suicide are more likely to experience job...

• Telehealth for chronically ill patients generates revenue and boosts care

  Telehealth visits for chronically ill patients have advantages compared to in-person visits such as...

• 5 ways healthcare organizations can address social determinants of health

  Healthcare providers can address social determinants of health through five...

Issue 25, June 18, 2020

• Study: Use of dexamethasone could cut coronavirus deaths by a third

  The drug is cheap and widely available, meaning it can be rolled out quickly to poorer communities...

• How NYC Health + Hospitals Trained 20K Staffers to Combat COVID-19

  This spring, NYC H+H, with its 11 acute-care hospitals and three field hospitals established to...

• Coronavirus: 4-Part Ethical Framework for Allocating Scarce Medications

  Decisions about allocating scarce inpatient medications for coronavirus patients should be guided...

Issue 24, June 11, 2020

• White House urges healthcare facilities to open, but safely

  The Trump administration is urging healthcare facilities to resume elective surgeries, diagnostic...

• New research identifies risk factors for physician suicide

  Compared to the general population, physicians who die by suicide are more likely to experience job...

• FDA bans certain respirators from being decontaminated, reused

  Chinese-made N95 masks and respirators with exhalation tubes among banned types.

• EHRs Fail to Detect Up to One-third of Medication Errors

  EHRs are supposed to ensure safe use of medications in hospitals,” said study corresponding...

• Nearly 600, and counting, U.S. Health Workers Have Died Of COVID-19

  The tally includes doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as crucial healthcare support staff such...

Issue 23, June 4, 2020

• Telehealth Expansion During Coronavirus Pandemic Changing Physician-Patient Relationship

  “Whether telemedicine is a good or bad thing for the physician-patient relationship is...

• Physician Advocate: Coronavirus Pandemic Shows Need to Ease Regulatory Burdens

  Healthcare is one of the most highly regulated sectors in the U.S. economy. Regulatory compliance...

• Study: About a Quarter of Hospitals Have Telestroke Capacity

  As of 2019, just over 27% of hospitals had telestroke capacity, according to the study. Over a...

Issue 22, May 28, 2020

• Study Shows COVID-19 Body Count 20 Times Higher Than Seasonal Flu Deaths

  New research shows that counted deaths from COVID-19 in mid-April were about 20 times greater than...

• Study: Patients equally satisfied with virtual encounters compared to in-person visits

  The advent of COVID-19 has fueled the rise of telemedicine, accelerating growth beyond what was...

• Telehealth Expansion During Coronavirus Pandemic Changing Physician-Patient Relationship

  The dramatic growth of telemedicine during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is...

Issue 21, May 21, 2020

• AOs ramping up for accreditation surveys

  Get ready—both DNV-GL Healthcare and HFAP have announced they are going start doing limited...

• COVID-19: EPA releases list of registered disinfectants

  The EPA has released a list of 82 registered disinfectant products that have been qualified for use...

• How to Create an N95 Mask Disinfection Facility for Less Than $15,000

  The process is based on a concept from the University of Nebraska and adheres to Centers for...

Issue 20, May 14, 2020

• Coronavirus Care Rationing: "It's Not Just About Ventilators"

  In addition to ventilators, there are four primary care rationing scenarios during the coronavirus...

• Study Puts U.S. COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate at 1.3%

  COVID-19 kills 1.3% of symptomatic people and could kill 500,000 Americans in the coming months if...

• CMS Emergency Waivers Now Include Some Testing, Inspections

  After several requests, CMS finally issued a waiver for some — but not all — equipment...

• Hurricane preparedness week: Get ready now

  Dig out your hurricane preparedness plans and now with an eye on potentially handling two or more...

• NIOSH seeks comment on hazardous drugs list

   NIOSH seeks comment on 2020 hazardous drug handling list

Issue 19, May 7, 2020

• Researcher: Coronavirus Pandemic Increases Risk of Physician Suicide

  The April 26 suicide death of a New York emergency room physician appears to be related to the...

• New Infection Prevention Guidelines Highlight Lessons Learned From COVID-19

  “There is still much to learn about this virus, but these recommendations give hospitals...

• 6 Steps for Rural Hospitals to Rise to the Coronavirus Challenge

  In response to the coronavirus pandemic, an Indiana-based rural hospital succeeded in boosting...

Issue 18, April 30, 2020

• American Heart Association Issues COVID-19 CPR Guidelines

  The AHA recommended bystanders and lay rescuers administer “hands only” CPR without...

• How cancer clinics can treat patients safely during the coronavirus pandemic

  Patients with cancer are a high-risk group during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a World...

• CDC: Watch for six new symptoms of COVID-19

  The CDC says that like the original three symptoms, the six new ones take two to 14 days to appear...

• Coronavirus: Studies find steam effective in sterilizing used medical masks

  Researchers in China and Houston show that steam sterilization processes do not damage surgical...

Issue 17, April 23, 2020

• Study: contaminated reusable bronchoscopes could cause secondary infections in COVID-19 patients

  Bronchoscopes are used to examine patients’ lungs, but when they’re contaminated, they...

• Track COVID-19 rates to signal when to resume non-emergent care

  While some hospitals are just approaching their peak of treating COVID-19 patients, others are...

• Legal considerations for healthcare workers crossing state lines to help during pandemic

  To assess the legal implications of licensed healthcare workers crossing state lines, HealthLeaders...

Issue 16, April 16, 2020

• FDA says 4 million N95 masks could be reused thanks to emergency order

  “Authorizing this sterilization system will make it easier for hospitals to ensure that...

• How one Arizona health system is preparing emergency department, critical care for surge

  While coronavirus hotspots such as New York and Detroit are coping with patient surges, Valleywise...

• Online tool helps hospitals place staff in appropriate roles during COVID-19 pandemic

  To meet the critical need for nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals and health...

Issue 15, April 9, 2020

• Looking for ideas? OIG report outlines hospital strategies on COVID challenges

  If you are still preparing for a major onslaught of suspected COVID-19 patients, review your plans...

• Warning: Despite Blanket Waivers, CoP, EMTALA Regulations Are Still in Effect

  Beware the myths and misperceptions going around about the blanket 1135 waivers issued by CMS to...

• Free online COVID-19 surge planning tool available to hospitals

  A newly developed modeling tool to predict hospital capacity needs during the COVID-19 pandemic is...

• A quarter of rural hospitals at ’high risk’ of closure, COVID-19 likely to make it worse

  One quarter of rural hospitals are at high risk of closing due to financial challenges, according...

Issue 14, April 2, 2020

• CMS suspends restrictions on care venues as providers tackle COVID-19 surges

  Now allowing hospitals to clear precious bed capacity by triaging non-COVID-19 patients in...

• Duke Health to begin reusing N95 masks

  Researchers at Duke Health this week announced a way to sterilize masks using aerosolized hydrogen...

• Coronavirus: Infectious Disease Expert Shares Lessons Learned From Other Recent Outbreaks

  Although there are differences between the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the recent...

• 34 States Granted Medicaid 1135 Waivers to Fight COVID-19

  The federal government announced Friday that 34 states have been granted expedited 1135 Medicaid...

Issue 13, March 26, 2020

• Two-thirds of all hospital beds are already occupied

  Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s estimated 728,000 hospital beds already are occupied...

• Despite Federal COVID-19 Stimulus, Many Hospitals Could Face Layoffs Within Two Months

  Despite a proposed 20% reimbursement rate increase for treatment of patients infected with...

• COVID-19: Non-profit group partners with biotech consortium to crowd-source PPE solutions

  A consortium of biotech and pharmaceutical companies promoting innovation, have partnered to create...

Issue 12, March 19, 2020

• Accrediting organizations suspend most survey activities to focus on COVID-19

  If you are expecting a survey from your accreditation organization (AO) in the upcoming weeks and...

• Study: SARS-CoV-2 Can Live for 72 Hours on Plastic, Stainless Steel Surfaces

  It was more stable on plastic and stainless steel than on copper and cardboard, with viable virus...

• National emergency declared over COVID-19 coronavirus; 1135 waivers now in play

  Hospitals and other healthcare organizations will soon have some regulatory relief and more...

• See when states will face hospital bed capacity shortages during the COVID-19 outbreak

  Amid the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, most states will run out of...

• CMS reminds providers about EMTALA obligations with COVID-19 patients

  In response to questions from hospitals both large and small, CMS is reminding providers with...

Issue 11, March 12, 2020

• CMS reminds providers about EMTALA obligations with COVID-19 patients

  CMS has also revised its guidance for nursing homes that need to control visitors in light of the...

• HHS releases final interoperability rules

  They are expected to "empower patients around a common aim—giving every American access...

Issue 10, March 5, 2020

• COVID-19: CMS says primary survey focus will be on infection control preparedness

  CMS ordered its state and regional surveyors to suspend “non-emergency inspections across the...

• Verma Raps Accrediting Organizations' "Glaring Conflict of Interest'

  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma took a swipe at accrediting...

• Stay up-to-date, use available resources to plan as COVID-19 continues to spread

  As the CDC and international medical community continues to learn how to handle the spread of...

Issue 9, February 27, 2020

• Value-Based Metrics Penalize Top-Performing Hospitals

  Hospitals that are recognized for high-quality cardiac care are also more likely to be penalized...

• HHS Unveils Strategy to Reduce EHR Burden for Clinicians

  The federal government has released its long-awaited plan to reduce red tape and other...

Issue 8, February 20, 2020

• New Data on Sepsis Prevalence and Costs 'Astonished' DHHS Researchers

  There was a 40% increase in the rate of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with sepsis from 2012...

• Vitamin and steroid treatment for sepsis fails in major study

  Proponents of the treatment say the study is flawed and plan to keep using vitamin C on sepsis...

Issue 7, February 13, 2020

• CDC: Focus on Protecting Staff and Supplies as Coronavirus Concerns Grow

  The threat of the 2019 novel coronavirus spreading rapidly in the United States remains low for...

• CMS to providers: Prep for 2019-nCoV, stay CLIA compliant

  CMS is urging hospitals and other providers to review their plans for handling emerging diseases...

Issue 6, February 6, 2020

• Novel Coronavirus: What clinicians should know

  An article published this week by the Journal of the American Medical Association provides clinical...

• Study: Staff will work through illness despite sick policy

  Do staff in long-term healthcare facilities go to work with the flu and other illnesses, even when...

Issue 5, January 30, 2020

• Use past experience with MERS, Ebola to prep for latest coronavirus

  Dig out your plan for screening for MERS-CoV, Ebola, measles or any other infectious disease and...

• Full Transparency Is the Key to Stopping Drug Diversion in Healthcare Settings

  Is drug diversion a problem in the healthcare setting where you work? Chances are the answer is...

Issue 4, January 23, 2020

• Data Analytics Utilization 'Negligible' Among 80% of Healthcare Orgs

  The research found that 95% of hospitals and physician group executives have access to data...

• CDC: First Case of Wuhan Coronavirus Confirmed in U.S.

  Scientists are unclear about how the virus spreads between people.

Issue 3, January 16, 2020

• OSHA Raises Its Civil Penalties for 2020 by Nearly 2%

  On January 15, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) raised its civil penalties...

• TJC clarifies 1135 waivers, which suspend rules during a disaster

  Joint Commission–accredited hospitals and CAHs must have a process for requesting an 1135...

Issue 2, January 9, 2020

• Q&A: What You Need to Know About CMS' Antimicrobial Stewardship Rule

  On September 26, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released revised...

• BD Launches Fully Sterile Surgical Skin Preparation

  Skin antiseptic products are used to reduce bacterial burden on skin prior to performing invasive...

Issue 1, January 2, 2020

• Asymptomatic Carriers of C. Diff May Be Significant Source of Infection at Hospitals

  In the hospital setting, screening for asymptomatic carriers of Clostridioides difficile (C. diff...

• IHI Pushes Safety as a Primary Business Strategy

  Hospital leaders must adopt safety and quality as primary business strategies, rather than...