Patient & Staff Safety
Study Highlights Important Role That Patients Play In Determining Outcomes
February 5, 2013 10:32 am | News | CommentsWhen it comes to health care, patients with the motivation, knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their own health have better health outcomes and incur fewer health care costs. Using a Patient Activation Measure that assesses beliefs, knowledge and confidence in managing health-related tasks, the researchers found that patient scores on a questionnaire that ranks patient activation showed that patients' responses in effect predicted their overall care costs — even when adjusted by the severity of patients' health conditions, age, sex and income.
Hospitalist Survey: Patient Loads Often At Unsafe Levels
February 4, 2013 9:40 am | by Alvin Tran | Articles | CommentsNearly forty percent of hospital-based general practitioners who are responsible for overseeing patients’ care say they juggle unsafe patient workloads at least once a week, according to a study published Monday as a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine.
EMRs Could Help Prioritize ICU Resources
February 1, 2013 12:02 pm | News | CommentsA national shortage of critical care physicians and beds means difficult decisions for healthcare professionals in determining which of the sickest patients are most in need of access to the intensive care unit. Emerging health technologies – including reliable methods to rate the severity of a patient’s condition – may provide powerful tools to efficiently use health resources.
Suspect Blames Surgery For Urologist Killing
January 30, 2013 12:04 pm | by Gillian Flaccus & Robert Jablon, AP | News | CommentsA retired barber who told neighbors he blamed prostate surgery for his ill health, is scheduled in court on charges he shot a urologist to death in his exam room. Neighbors said the man was angry about his incontinence following a recent surgery.
Da Vinci Earnings Increase Despite Lawsuits
January 30, 2013 11:53 am | News | CommentsDespite a growing number of da Vinci Surgical System lawsuits, Intuitive Surgical saw healthy fourth-quarter earnings of about $175 million in 2012, an increase of 16 percent from the same time in 2011.
Transfer & Lift Device
January 30, 2013 10:55 am | by HoverTech International | HoverTech International | Product Releases | CommentsHoverTech International introduces a next generation patient handling solution: the HoverSling Combination Transfer & Lift Device for lateral transfers, repositioning, turning, and vertical lifting. The HoverSling streamlines patient handling tasks by reducing the time and money spent using multiple products, while creating a more comfortable transfer for patients.
"July Effect" Negligible For Spine Surgery Outcomes
January 29, 2013 12:06 pm | News | CommentsThe "July Effect"—the notion that the influx of new residents and fellows at teaching hospitals in July of each year adversely affects patient care and outcomes - was examined in a very large data set of hospitalizations for patients undergoing spine surgery. Researchers found a negligible effect on procedural outcomes among patients treated by spine surgery.
Medicaid Expansion Puts Money Fears vs. Added Benefits
January 29, 2013 10:55 am | by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, AP | News | CommentsWhether to expand Medicaid could be the most important decision facing governors and legislatures this year. The repercussions go beyond their budgets, directly affecting the well-being of residents and the finances of critical hospitals. Here's the offer:
Do Starbucks Employees Have More Emotional Intelligence Than Your Physician?
January 25, 2013 6:47 pm | by Editor | Blogs | CommentsWhy are Starbucks employees often better at responding to their clients’ emotional needs than experienced physicians? It comes down to training.
Digital Diagnostic Tools Can Make Patients Unhappy
January 25, 2013 6:03 pm | by Kate McIntyre | News | CommentsA University of Missouri researcher says the increased use of computerized clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) leads to greater patient dissatisfaction and could increase non-compliance with preventative care and treatment recommendations.
Trial Under Way In Hip Replacement Suit
January 25, 2013 5:39 pm | News | CommentsIt involves an all-metal ball-and-socket joint that was implanted in some 90,000 people worldwide before Johnson & Johnson recalled the product in 2010. The New Jersey-based company denies the allegations of bad design and fraud but it has set aside around one billion dollars to deal with the costs of the recall and lawsuits.
Half Of What We Teach You
January 25, 2013 11:52 am | by Editor | Blogs | CommentsWe searched for information in older textbooks with trepidation, fearing encounters with long-discarded details and theories. We marveled that previous generations of physicians had never been taught tobacco and cancer were somehow linked to each other. How could they have not known? And then there were changes we encountered in surgery.
Many Hospitalized Patients Returning To ER
January 25, 2013 11:19 am | News | CommentsA new study published by Yale School of Medicine researchers in JAMA found that a substantial number of patients return to the emergency department soon after leaving the hospital, and, while such patients are not usually re-admitted, the study raises concerns that many more patients require acute medical care after hospital discharge than previously recognized.
Monitor Shows When Patients Wake Up During Surgery
January 24, 2013 12:15 pm | Videos | CommentsThe new device helps surgeons understand a condition termed "anesthesia awareness", where patients wake up during surgery but are unable to communicate this to surgeons and OR nurses.
Smoking Cessation More Successful When Quitting Before Surgery
January 23, 2013 10:36 am | News | CommentsLung, head and neck cancer patients who smoked before surgery are more likely to relapse than those who had quit before surgery, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers say. They found that smoking-relapse prevention interventions are needed immediately after surgery to help prevent relapse.
Interventional Treatment Can Save Mom, Prevent Hysterectomy
January 23, 2013 10:22 am | News | CommentsUsing tiny balloons to temporarily block blood flow to the uterus during a high-risk Caesarean-section delivery can save the life of the mother while preventing hysterectomy and preserving fertility, suggests research being presented at the 25th annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET).
Minimally Invasive Approach To Ruptured Aneurysms Better Than Open Surgery
January 23, 2013 10:06 am | News | CommentsPatients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are more than twice as likely to survive if they have minimally invasive repair than if they have open surgery, suggests a 10-year study being presented at the 25th annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET).
Regular Aspirin Use Could Lead To Increased Macular Degeneration
January 22, 2013 1:25 pm | News | CommentsRegular aspirin use appears to be associated with an increased risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of blindness in older people, and it appears to be independent of a history of cardiovascular disease and smoking.
PT In The ICU Benefits Bottom Line
January 22, 2013 1:08 pm | News | CommentsIn a study evaluating the financial impact of providing early physical therapy for intensive care patients, researchers at Johns Hopkins found that the up-front costs are outweighed by the financial savings generated by earlier discharges from the intensive care unit and shorter hospital stays overall.
Outcomes Of Attending Surgeons After Overnight Trauma Shifts
January 22, 2013 12:33 pm | Articles | CommentsBased on their findings, the authors concluded that performance of general surgery operations the day after an overnight in-hospital trauma shift did not affect complication rates or readmission rates. At this time, there is no compelling evidence to mandate work-hour restrictions for attending general surgeons.
Dear Patients: Thank You
January 22, 2013 12:18 pm | by Maria Yang, MD | Blogs | CommentsThank you for nearly kicking me in the face when I tap on your knees to test your reflexes. Thank you for peeing all over me after I remove your diaper.Thank you for answering questions that, in any other context, are completely obnoxious and rude.
Alternative Medicine Use High Among Children
January 21, 2013 1:21 pm | News | CommentsChildren who regularly see specialists for chronic medical conditions are also using complementary medicine at a high rate, demonstrates recently published research from the University of Alberta and the University of Ottawa.
Tobacco, Obesity Focal Points For President's Second Term
January 21, 2013 10:38 am | by David Pittman, MedPage Today | Blogs | CommentsThe second term of an Obama administration will be marked for implementing key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but the president also wants to focus on lowering tobacco use and obesity rates.
Blood Test Can Help Identify Risks Of Death
January 18, 2013 11:59 am | News | CommentsA simple, inexpensive blood test performed on trauma patients upon admission can help doctors easily identify patients at greatest risk of death.
HHS Awards $1.5 Billion To Support State Insurance Marketplaces
January 18, 2013 11:04 am | News | CommentsHealth and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $1.5 billion in new Exchange Establishment Grants to California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont to ensure these states have the resources necessary to build a marketplace that meets the needs of their residents.
