New Jersey's health department modified COVID-19 testing rules for ASCs resuming elective surgeries and invasive diagnostic procedures, according to Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti.

Since 2015, state legislators have passed more than 2,000 laws related to the regulation of healthcare. Cookie-cutter and infrequently updated regulation policies could cost health systems thousands of hours in manpower, but by implementing a continuous compliance program, systems can recapture those lost hours and improve efficiency.

Columbus, Ohio-based Taylor Station Surgical Center is now part of BridgeHealth's centers of excellence program, according to a July 28 announcement.

An outpatient surgery nurse with Quincy, Ill.-based Blessing Hospital is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, according to NBC affiliate WGEM News.

After Covenant High Plains Surgery Center Administrator Alfonso del Granado shared his center's "all-of-the-above" approach to patient and staff safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, Becker's ASC Review followed up for more details on lab capacity, billing and employee requirements at the Lubbock, Texas, ASC.

As the founder of Austin, Texas-based Water Leaf Surgery Center and Genotox Laboratories, Matt McCarty, MD, believes testing patients and employees for COVID-19 is "central" to maintaining safety and business viability.

Alfonso del Granado, administrator of Covenant High Plains Surgery Center in Lubbock, Texas, is a proponent of preoperatively testing ASC patients for COVID-19.

Newsweek is partnering with global research firm Statista to rank the country's best ASCs.

Reopening guidelines for New Jersey surgical centers may be well-intentioned, but they're impractical, according to John Fanburg, a managing member and chair of Brach Eichler's healthcare law practice.

With 230 ASCs in 35 states, Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affiliates has reached about 90 percent of pre-COVID-19 volumes, Chief Medical Officer Dan Murrey, MD, said in an Accreditation Insider article published June 29.

The FDA recently delivered guidance for vaccine developers on how effective a COVID-19 vaccine will have to be to win full regulatory approval.

While still higher than pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, telemedicine visits have begun to steadily decline across the U.S. since peaking in mid-April, according to a June 25 Commonwealth Fund report.

New York ASCs have received updated guidance on reopening for nonessential elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures from the state health department.

ASCs had lower rates of patient cancellations due to COVID-19 than both hospitals and academic medical centers, according to new survey results from the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses.

Healthcare-associated infections cost U.S. hospital systems about $9.8 billion every year, according to a JAMA Internal Medicine study cited by Randy Heiser, president of Sullivan Healthcare Consulting.

ASCs need to reimagine patient flow when reopening their facilities, according to Lorrie Cappellino, RN, an ambulatory healthcare surveyor for The Joint Commission.

Surgery centers have obstacles to overcome when striving for "top-notch quality and safety," according to One Medical Passport, an ASC software provider.

Maryville, Ill.-based Anderson Healthcare postponed a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new ASC due to COVID-19-related inspection delays, according to The Telegraph.

Seattle Children's Hospital closed several operating rooms after air tests revealed low levels of mold in early May, according to MYNorthwest and KIRO Radio.

The novel coronavirus "does not spread easily" on surfaces or objects, according to the CDC's updated website page.