The FLiRT variants of COVID-19 are gaining momentum, with emergency department visits diagnosed as COVID went up 23.3% from the week prior, building up to an anticipated "summer wave" across multiple states, especially in the South, CDC data shows.

WHO released the first clinical guidelines for tobacco cessation.

In 2012, a program for children's hospitals in the U.S. and Canada launched to eliminate patient and employee harm.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare has more than tripled the number of liver transplants performed since 2018. 

In 2005, Cincinnati Children's had a serious patient safety event every 21 days on average. Now, there are hundreds of days between safety events.

Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, began seeing a rise of mycoplasma pneumonia in patients in April, and since then, they've unexpectedly increased.

Asking patients to rate their pain on a scale from zero to 10 is "a simple but baffling request," Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD, wrote in a July 2 opinion piece for KFF Health News. 

Studies have found that stress is linked with many chronic diseases, but many physicians do not provide enough education to patients on managing stress, The New York Times reported June 27.

Cleveland Clinic is set to expand its rollout of a unique labor and delivery initiative, which led to a reduction in Cesarean section rates and a boost in patient satisfaction, to three other hospitals, it announced July 1.

New criteria from Boston-based Mass General for Children can accurately identify 98% of cases of anaphylactic children — compared to 85% with the older guidance.

The National Association for Healthcare Quality announced a new campaign July 1 aimed at underscoring the importance of the quality at healthcare facilities nationwide. 

COVID-19 activity is rising in many areas of the country ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, hinting at the start of a summer surge, the CDC said in a June 28 update. 

In its most direct statement on transgender care, the Biden administration said it opposes gender-affirming surgery for minors, The New York Times reported June 28. 

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based HonorHealth has raked in savings north of $62 million by improving patient flow and infusing systems with artificial intelligence.

Gone are the days of hallmark COVID-19 symptoms. While loss of taste and smell, and persistent cough were once tell-tale signs of the respiratory infection, symptoms today vary widely, with tests being the only sure-fire way to confirm a diagnosis, physicians told NBC News in a June 27 report. 

The Joint Commission has once again been renewed by CMS for its lab and point-of-care testing accreditation program. The renewal is effective now through 2030, it announced June 27.

Miami-based Jackson Memorial Hospital has reduced its hospital acquired infections by 40% in about nine months with two changes.

After piloting new Clostridioides difficile guidelines for nine months, Memorial Healthcare System reduced unnecessary treatments by 20.1%, according to a study published June 27 in the American Journal of Infection Control. 

Southern California Hospital at Culver City has been free of central line-associated bloodstream infections for over 1,000 days and free of catheter-associated urinary tract infections for 750 days, it announced June 26.

Respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations are now recommended for all adults over age 75 and for high-risk adults between ages 60 and 74, the CDC announced June 26.