Will Policy, Regulation Issues Stifle AI’s Advances in Healthcare?
During the recent AIMed Global Summit in San Diego, Alya Sulaiman, a partner in the McDermott Will & Emery law firm who focuses on digital health, described an active landscape in which federal agencies like the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT, the US Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission were competing with the likes of state attorneys general to regulate the technology.
Will a ‘National Patient Safety Board,’ Modeled After the NTSB, Actually Fly?
Two measures are underway to create a safety board: A bill filed in the U.S. House in December by Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), which is expected to be refiled this session, calls for the creation of a board to help federal agencies monitor safety events, identify conditions under which problems occur, and suggest preventive measures.
OSHA Cites Workplace Violence at Columbus Children’s Hospital
The hospital failed to protect employees, including nurses and mental health professionals, from patients whose bites, kicks, punches, and other assaults caused serious injuries, according to OSHA. The agency cited the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion with one serious violation and one other-than-serious violation.
COVID Vaccinations Officially Not Required
CMS issued a final rule May 31 officially rescinding the regulatory requirement to vaccinate healthcare staff in hospitals and other health organizations against the COVID-19 virus.
CMS Restarting Pilot Project Putting Agency Surveyors Side-by-Side with AO Teams
Surveyors from CMS could start appearing along with survey teams from each accrediting organization (AO) as the federal agency resumes its full AO validation survey program. All non-emergent validation surveys were suspended when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down almost all surveys nationwide.
CMS Investigates Two Hospitals Who Refused Woman an Abortion
According to news reports, the woman was told by doctors at the hospitals in Kansas and Missouri that she faced sepsis and possible loss of her uterus but could not get an abortion in either state because of recently passed laws.
COVID-19 Vaccines Requirements to End May 11 Along With PHE
CMS is ending a requirement that all hospital providers and suppliers be vaccinated against COVID-19 as of the end of the public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, according to new guidance issued on May 1.
Counting Will Resume for Minimums for Ventricular Assist Device Procedures at End of PHE
For hospitals with cardiac programs that include performing ventricular assist device (VAD) implants, The Joint Commission offers the reminder that as of May 12, 2023, CMS will resume monitoring the number of procedures done by the VAD team as part of determining coverage under Medicare.
Healthcare Workplace Violence Legislation Introduced in Congress
The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Worker Act was introduced by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT). The bill has bipartisan backing in the House of Representatives, with support from Don Bacon (R-NE), Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
Quick Safety 69: Preventing Burns from Laparoscopy and Arthroscopy
On April 10, The Joint Commission published Quick Safety Issue 69: Preventing light source-related burns from laparoscopy and arthroscopy. Both arthroscopy and laparoscopy are done by inserting a narrow tube and fiber-optic camera into a small incision. For the camera to see anything in the incision, there needs to be adequate lighting, either using lamps or light cables.