Researchers found that hospitals that collaborated to create the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium aimed at improving cardiac surgery outcomes among children had 24%, 22%, 13% and 12% lower in-hospital mortality, cardiac ICU postoperative mortality, postoperative mechanical ventilation duration and major complication rates, respectively, as well as 5% shorter length of stay in the cardiac ICU than at baseline. The findings in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that major complication rate, operative mortality prevalence and total duration of postoperative hospitalization in non-PC4 hospitals didn't improve during the same period.

A simulation study found the use of cognitive aids improved adherence to best practices in the care of deteriorating surgical patients, researchers reported in JAMA Surgery. Researcher Dr. Lena Koers said cognitive aids are most useful if clinicians spend time adjusting them to a specific situation, and that process "helps evaluate the escalation of care pathways and can help to tighten the bonds between the surgical department and the ICU."

The World Health Organization reported that measles cases around the world rose from 7,585,900 in 2017 to 9,769,400 in 2018, while measles-related deaths increased from 124,000 to 142,300 during the same period, with most deaths involving unvaccinated children. Meanwhile, a CDC study in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed that although yearly global measles incidence and deaths dropped between 2000 and 2018 and vaccination prevented 23.2 million deaths during that period, the number of infections and deaths have increased since 2016.

An analysis from the CMS Office of the Actuary showed US health care spending increased by 4.6% to $3.6 trillion last year, compared with 4.2% growth in 2017 and 4.6% in 2016. The increase was driven in part by faster spending growth in government-sponsored and private health insurance, largely because the Affordable Care Act's health insurance tax was reinstated.

A checkbox outlined in red that popped up when duplicate orders were entered into a patient's EHR reduced unintended duplicate orders for laboratory tests by 49% and radiology imaging by 40%, according to the results of a study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers said different care settings, such as the ICU, may need to use different thresholds for determining duplicate orders.

Transport of suspected stroke patients to a hospital using a mobile stroke unit resulted in initiation of treatment with alteplase about 30 minutes sooner than with transport using a regular ambulance, according to a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The study was conducted in New York City and the time differences were not related to ambulance speed.