Integrating human factors is essential for the future of healthcare safety and sustainability, but many systems are working against the system instead of toward it, an op-ed piece in Science Direct written by five physicians said.

Several reports about successful pig organ transplant procedures have emerged in 2023, continuing to lay the foundation for eventual human clinical trials and possibly a future in which xenotransplants become the norm for patients in need of a vital organ. 

Patients — especially those living in poverty — see better surgical outcomes when treated at a hospital ranked by U.S. News & World Report, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Surgery. 

Primary care providers are an important factor in improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare spending, but the system is showing cracks, The Washington Post reported Oct. 17.

Researchers at Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center developed an artificial intelligence model to identify pediatric patients who are at high risk of developing blood clots. While the model was shown to be accurate in identifying those at highest risk, physicians were reluctant to follow the accompanying recommendation, according to findings published Oct. 13 in JAMA Network Open. 

The Joint Commission recently updated its 20-year-old guidance on preventing surgical fires and burns, the organization said Oct. 18. 

An inmate escaped from Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed Oct. 17 while still wearing handcuffs, WRAL News reported.

A man was found dead by suicide after he sneaked a gun into H. John Heinz III VA Medical Center in O'Hara, Pa., Trib Live reported Oct. 16.

A monkey in a clinical trial has survived two years with a genetically modified pig kidney. Now the study's success is moving the needle toward gaining FDA approval to begin similar clinical trials in humans, CNN reported Oct. 12. 

A study found patients who receive sedation from an anesthesiologist, instead of a physician who is not a trained anesthesiologist, are nearly 70% more likely to be discharged home than to a long-term care facility.

A lack of emergency blood transfusions is a national crisis "fueling" preventable deaths, three physicians wrote in a JAMA opinion piece Oct. 12.

Salt Lake City-based University of Utah has cut the ribbon on its new population health clinic, which it hopes will improve patient outcomes, identify unmet care needs and lower the overall cost of care, according to an Oct. 12 news release.

The American Academy of Neurology recently updated the guidelines for determining brain death in adult and pediatric patients.

Falls are the most common sentinel event resulting in harm or death of hospital patients so far in 2023, according to data from The Joint Commission. 

Four in 10 adults with a disability reported experiencing unfair healthcare treatment, an Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report found.

The FDA issued an alert Oct. 10 to healthcare providers about dangers associated with treating psychiatric disorders with ketamine.

In August, a nurse at Main Line Health's Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pa., mistakenly gave a patient double the prescribed dose of a powerful painkiller. The incident led to state regulators issuing an immediate jeopardy warning, according to an inspection report obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Joint Commission issued a quick safety advisory Oct. 9 with best practices for the early identification of severe pressure injuries. 

Two men with loaded handguns were arrested Oct. 8 at Rochester (N.Y.) General Hospital, CBS affiliate WROC reported.

Police are searching for a man who escaped custody at Mount Sinai West in New York City on Oct. 9, according to CW affiliate PIX11.