Alexandra Murphy

Here are five of the latest recalls and corrections reported to the FDA:  Ambu recalls SPUR II resuscitators due to blocked manometer port  Ambu is recalling specific lots of its SPUR II manual resuscitators because a blocked manometer port renders the manometer nonfunctional. The defect can prevent clinicians from monitoring…

A bipartisan bill in the U.S. House would permanently extend Medicare telehealth flexibilities that are set to expire Sept. 30. The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act of 2025, also called H.R. 4206, was introduced by Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., David Schweikert, R-Ariz., Doris…

Healthcare added 31,000 jobs in August, below the monthly average of 42,000 over the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics latest report on U.S. employment trends.  The report pointed to a broader labor market slowdown. Overall, the U.S. economy added just 22,000 jobs — one of…

Cybercriminals are weaponizing AI agents to attack industries including healthcare, AI company Anthropic found. Hackers are using agentic AI to carry out sophisticated cyberattacks that would have previously required years of training, according to the Aug. 27 report. For instance, a cybercriminal employed Claude, Anthropic’s large language model, to extract…

Becker’s compiled a list of hospitals that were rated 5 stars for nurse communication in each state, according to CMS’ Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data. CMS shares 10 HCAHPS star ratings based on publicly reported HCAHPS measures. For nurse communication, data from HCAHPS survey questions are…

The Change Healthcare cyberattack delayed testing for a new Oracle EHR at an Illinois hospital jointly operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the VA’s Office of Inspector General found. The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago went live in…

Nurse scientists are a rare but growing role in hospitals that address not just research, but operational and patient care pain points. Nurse scientists, also referred to as nurse researchers, are nurses who have pursued a PhD and conduct research. Most commonly found in academia, nurse scientists often apply for…

From insurance “misalignment” to patient hostility, spine surgeons discuss the surprising aspects that came up in their work since 2020. Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity. Question: What’s something in your practice that has surprised you the most in the last five years? Jeffrey Carlson MD. Coastal Virginia…

Alejandro Badia, MD, orthopedic surgeon and founder of Miami-based OrthoNOW, partnered with Redwood Growth Partners, according to a Sept. 3 news release. The partnership with the investment and advisory firm will accelerate OrthoNOW’s growth toward a network of more than 10 clinics. OrthoNOW was founded 14 years ago and is one of…

Endoscopic spine’s growth will depend on a forward-thinking mindset among surgeons and pushing new boundaries, Xiaofei (Sophie) Zhou, MD, said. Dr. Zhou, associate program director of the neurosurgical residency at Cleveland-based University Hospitals, discussed what’s ahead for an upcoming episode of the “Becker’s Spine and Orthopedic Podcast.”  Note: This is…

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4 to explain his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda and defend sweeping changes to the CDC, vaccine policy and other federal health programs.  Here are three of the central takeaways from the nearly three-hour hearing.  1.…

Whenever Annette Walker, president of Irvine, Calif.-based City of Hope Orange County, has entered a hospital’s spiritual care center, typically she sees one of two things. “Either they look like a white conference room and they’re so neutral that they don’t offend anybody, but they also don’t inspire anybody,” she…

Novo Nordisk’s popular weight loss drug, Wegovy, is the first and only GLP-1 medication approved to treat metabolic associated steatohepatitis, a serious condition marked by liver scarring.  The FDA granted the approval Aug. 15.  Injectable GLP-1 drugs primarily treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes, and some have additional indications including…

States are beginning to take vaccine policies and recommendations into their own hands amid turmoil at the CDC, which could lead to a patchwork of varying approaches across the country and raise logistical questions for multi-state health systems.  This year, changes to the vaccine landscape — particularly surrounding COVID-19 shots…

Silver Spring, Md.-based Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic Regional President and CEO Andre Boyd Sr. was appointed to two healthcare leadership boards. The Maryland Hospital Association named Mr. Boyd to its board of trustees as one of five new members elected for fiscal 2026, according to a Sept. 3 health system news…

The U.S. government’s termination of nearly $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard University violated the First Amendment and federal law, a judge for the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts ruled Sept. 3.  Judge Allison Burroughs said the Trump administration “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault…

Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University is the No. 1 university in the U.S. for cardiac and cardiovascular systems, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking. The list was published in June as part of U.S. News’ 2025-2026 “Best Global Universities” rankings, which evaluated 23,450 universities in total. Read more…

The statistics are clear: GLP-1 medications can have a dramatic effect on cardiovascular health.  Recent research has shown both semaglutide and tirzepatide — the active ingredients in Ozempic and Wegovy, and Mounjaro and Zepbound, respectively — can significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and all-cause mortality for heart failure patients.…

Women represent 41% of participants in clinical trials investigating cardiovascular health and disease, according to a study published Aug. 31 in JAMA Network Open. Led by researchers from Los Angeles-based Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, the study analyzed participant data of 1,079 cardiovascular clinical trials from between 2017 and 2023,…

Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found there is no standard definition for what constitutes contamination in a blood culture, which could lead to more false positives and CLABSI infections. “We found variation in how hospitals define blood culture contamination, and that lack of standardization could dangerously stack the odds toward…

As the largest employers in most communities, hospitals and health systems are always looking for new talent.  With the nation’s birth rate hitting a record low last year and the country’s rapidly aging population placing unprecedented demands on the U.S. healthcare system, the onus is on us as healthcare leaders…

The FDA has issued a warning letter to Amneal Pharmaceuticals, citing “significant violations” of manufacturing standards after finding the drugmaker used contaminated IV bags in the manufacture of injectable products.  The violations, discovered during a March inspection of the company’s Gujarat, India, facility, revealed that Amneal continued to manufacture and…

Health systems are increasingly focused on offering healthcare “samplers” to young people before they choose a career path.  One pursuit is a $250 million initiative funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, which includes Memorial Hermann in Houston, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and 11 other health systems. The systems partner with high schools…

Oracle has laid off workers at its former Cerner campus in Kansas City, Mo., KMBC reported. The software giant has let go of employees and consolidated operations in Cerner’s former home city after buying the EHR vendor in 2022 for $28.4 billion. Oracle Health is now headquartered in Austin, Texas,…