Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has embarked on a surveillance project to monitor the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on hospital admissions and emergency department utilization.

Here are four common challenges facing orthopedic departments at hospitals around the country, according to the Joint Replacement Benchmark Survey:

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the National Institutes of Health, has started an early-stage clinical trial for an oral antibiotic intended to treat Clostridium difficile infections.

The ECRI Institute has developed an online version of its Infection Control Risk Assessment for Healthcare Construction Activities training, which teaches use of infection control risk assessments and management techniques for hospital setting construction.

The gut microbiome has been heralded as one of the most exciting areas of GI research. Fecal microbiota transplantation is perhaps one of the most promising products of this research.

The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded $83.4 million in funding to support primary care residency programs at 60 teaching health centers.

While previous studies have shown smartphones have some contamination with nosocomial bacteria, a recent study of phones used in clinical settings showed no contamination of nosocomial bacteria — and the reason why is proper hand hygiene.

According to a new report by Jackson Healthcare, the use of physician assistants has increased from 25 percent to 30 percent since 2012.

Even though evidence has shown minimally invasive surgery is superior to open surgery for most patients, its use varies widely from hospital to hospital in the United States, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

Not giving patients antibiotics after surgery to remove an inflamed and enlarged gallbladder did not lead to a greater incidence of infections, according to a study published in JAMA.