Providence Medford (Ore.) Medical Center recently paused endoscopy procedures for 11 days after identifying quality-control lapses in its cleaning and sanitization process.  “We recently learned that some quality-control steps and related processes in endoscopy cleaning were not completed in some…

The Joint Commission has launched a specialized initiative that aims to address what it calls “gaps” in how children’s hospitals are accredited and certified.  According to the organization, national standards do not currently distinguish between the healthcare needs of adults…

The median in-network cost for a vaginal delivery is $15,178, and the average C-section costs $19,292, according to healthcare data company Fair Health.  Fair Health calculated the cost of giving birth including the delivery itself — pharmacy, nursery, labor and…

Martha Schwebach, the nation’s first family nurse practitioner, died July 9 at 86, the Albuquerque Journal reported July 27. Ms. Schwebach graduated from the Dominican School of Nursing in Great Bend, Kan., before moving to Moriarty, N.M. She spent eight…

New Hampshire is the first state to require physicians to obey some patients’ wishes for sterilization with respect to reproductive health.  The legislation, signed into law on July 15, takes effect Sept. 13. Physicians might require patients to sign an…

Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico is planning a $600 million expansion of its medical school, the Albuquerque Journal reported July 28. Here’s what to know: 1. The expansion will add a new on-campus facility, hundreds of hospital beds and staff…

The American Medical Association said it expressed “deep concern” to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over reports of plans within the agency to dismiss all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. “USPSTF plays a critical, non-partisan…

Many hospitals are finding physicians to be less willing to take on roles beyond clinical work, leaving leaders scrambling to create new methods to attract physicians to administrative or faculty roles. However, this is an issue academic medical centers solved…

About 80% of emergency department visits of terminally ill nursing home residents are potentially avoidable, according to a study published July 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.  Researchers analyzed Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers program…

A rare dual-nurse role is emerging in the U.S. that could serve as a powerful aid to systems: clinically based nurse scientists. Nurse scientists, also referred to as nurse researchers, are nurses who have pursued a PhD and conduct research.…