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Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, and age. Before learning more about surgical disparities and their effects on various racial and ethnic groups, researchers will need more of these data.
The authors of a recent study found African American children who are otherwise apparently healthy are 3.43 times more likely to die within 30 days after surgery when compared with white patients.
Many healthcare organizations, including the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, joined hundreds of businesses in condemning racism and police brutality. The American College of Surgeons issued a call to action on racism as a public health crisis.
Surgeons can use educationally based decision aids to improve rates of knee arthroplasty utilization among African Americans. The decision aids should include information about pre- and postoperative pain and performance outcomes.
The authors of a research project found the average noise level in one OR was 68 decibels, with a maximum average noise level of 87 decibels, which is about as loud as a hairdryer. The peak noise level was comparable to the sound of a bulldozer.
The five-point strategy crafted in previous years remains the same, but the tactics have improved to help execute the goals. The new plan includes details about stronger and more evidence-based activities that have reduced antibiotic resistance that public health officials can lean on to drive progress.
In April, CMS unveiled “Hospitals Without Walls,” a COVID-19 pandemic-specific policy likely to affect both hospitals and surgery centers. It provides a path for a Medicare-approved ASC to change its status to a hospital, thus allowing just about any Medicare-approved procedure permitted in a hospital to be performed in a surgery center — and at hospital reimbursement rates.
Financial Disclosure: Nurse Planner Kay Ball, PhD, RN, CNOR, CMLSO, FAAN (Nurse Planner), reports she is on the speakers bureau for AORN and Ethicon USA and is a consultant for Mobile Instrument Service and Repair. Editor Jonathan Springston, Editor Jill Drachenberg, Author Melinda Young, Author Stephen W. Earnhart, RN, CRNA, MA, Physician Editor Steven A. Gunderson, DO, FACA, DABA, CASC, RN, CRNA, MA, Consulting Editor Mark Mayo, CASC, Editorial Group Manager Leslie Coplin, and Accreditations Director Amy M. Johnson, MSN, RN, CPN, report no consultant, stockholder, speaker’s bureau, research, or other financial relationships with companies having ties to this field of study.
