Patient Safety & Outcomes

Banner Health will pause elective surgeries Jan. 1, the Phoenix-based system announced Dec. 30. 

Beginning Jan. 4, Cleveland Clinic will resume nonessential surgeries requiring an overnight hospital stay in Ohio.

COVID-19 viral loads could be a useful indicator of which patients may need higher levels of care, The New York Times reports. 

The Becker's Clinical Leadership & Infection Control editorial team chose the following 10 patient safety issues for healthcare leaders to prioritize in 2021, presented below in no particular order, based on news, study findings and trends reported in the past…

A small number of COVID-19 patients with no history of mental illness are developing severe psychotic symptoms weeks to months after contracting the virus, reports The New York Times.

Many healthcare workers aren't using COVID-19 antibody drugs from Eli Lilly and Regeneron, citing lack of data and staffing shortages, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Twenty-one Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California are suspending elective, non-urgent procedures through Jan. 4 as they continue to face a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to The Mercury News.

A safety board temporarily halted a clinical trial that uses high-dose blood thinners in severe COVID-19 patients due to potential harm, reports The New York Times.

Headache specialists are reporting an uptick of new or worsening symptoms among their patients — and the pandemic may be responsible, The Washington Post reports. 

Black children with sepsis are more likely to die than white or Hispanic kids, a study published Dec. 14 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health found.