The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network COVID-19 module will no longer be an option for daily reporting, effective July 15, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.

The Joint Commission again has earned CMS approval as a national accrediting organization for hospitals, but only for two years. Expect more changes as CMS continues to express concerns about TJC's performance.

Most physicians experience fatigue working with electronic health records (EHRs) for as little as 22 minutes, a recent research article indicates.

New programs support physicians in addressing these key drivers of health outcomes

It’s become more widely accepted that social determinants of health (SDoH)—the environmental conditions in which people live, learn, work, play, worship, and age—affect a wide range of health outcomes. More and more government initiatives are being launched to call attention to the environment’s role in population health. However, one group remains surprisingly under-involved in linking these conditions to chronic or other illnesses: physicians.

As you reopen patient care areas for non-emergent care, be sure to flush water lines, check expiration dates on drugs and supplies, and ensure all equipment and spaces have been cleaned and disinfected according to manufacturers’ instructions and CDC guidelines. The Trump administration began urging healthcare facilities in early June to resume elective surgeries, diagnostic tests, and other non-emergency care while encouraging patients to tend to healthcare needs they may have postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.