IMDA eNews 041723

The latest news affecting you and your customers…

from the Independent Medical Specialty Dealers Association

2024 conference site selected

Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida, will be the site of the 2024 IMDA/HIRA Conference. And it’s a beauty: A 255-acre campus along Shingle Creek, the headwaters of the Everglades, with a view of surrounding fairways, creek and vegetation. Golfers will tee off Monday morning, March 4, and the conference itself will begin that afternoon. We’ll finish at noon on Wednesday, March 6. And in between? Networking, business and market information, Manufacturers Forum, great food. So get smart! Make plans to attend the IMDA/HIRA Conference in March 2024. Details will follow.

Save non-competes: AdvaMed

If the Federal Trade Commission proceeds with its proposal to ban non-compete clauses, medical technology innovation will suffer and healthcare costs will rise, said AdvaMed, the medical technology association, in a statement on April 7. “Preventing the misappropriation of confidential business information and protecting the industry’s investments in innovation and talent are essential for ensuring patient access to the best medical technology possible,” according to the association. Click here to see AdvaMed’s letter to FTC Secretary April Tabor.

KillNet hackers remain a threat to hospitals

Pro-Russia hacktivist group KillNet remains a threat to U.S. health and public health providers, warns the Department of Health and Human Services. On January 28, 2023, KillNet and its affiliates conducted numerous coordinated denial-of-service attacks, targeting health and public health organizations in the U.S. and several NATO countries, apparently in retaliation for the allocation of tanks to Ukraine. Their distributed denial-of-service attacks typically only cause service outages lasting several hours or even days. However, the consequences of such attacks can be significant, threatening critical day-to-day operations, says HHS.

Patient falls most common sentinel event

Between January 1 and December 31, 2022, The Joint Commission received 1,441 reports of sentinel events – that is, patient safety events resulting in death, permanent harm or severe temporary harm. As in previous years, patient falls was the most reported sentinel event (42%) in 2022. The remaining leading categories were delay in treatment (6%), unintended retention of foreign object (6%), wrong surgery (6%) and suicide (5%). Communication breakdowns (e.g., not establishing a shared understanding or mental model across care team members, or no or inadequate staff-to-staff communication of critical information) continue to be the leading factor contributing to sentinel events.