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Telepresence robots: A healthcare trend that’s surprisingly cost-effective
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareTelepresence is an important trend for healthcare in 2020. As an administrator and/or physician, you may already use it for remote applications, such as consultations with patients and specialists. But adding robotics as a facet of your telepresence strategy can be a lot easier to implement than it may seem — and a lot less expensive, too. Here are some of the technology's most exciting applications that can be used at your healthcare facility today.
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Report: Healthcare hacks continue to skyrocket
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareHealthcare data breaches continue to be a significant problem for patients and organizations. In 2019, more than 41 million patient records were breached, as per the findings of a report from Protenus and DataBreaches.net. Additionally, based on these reported findings, the number of hacks nearly tripled from the year prior when 15 million patient records were affected by breach incidents. Protenus analyzed data breach incidents disclosed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and/or the media during 2019.
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Prehabilitation: Helping patients prepare for surgery
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcarePatients often feel anxious before surgery, especially in the days leading up to the procedure, which may be spent in pre-surgery preparation. Prehabilitation (prehab) is an inexpensive program that involves using the weeks before surgery to get mentally and physically ready for their upcoming procedures. After the first prehab test in surgery inpatients in 21 hospitals across Michigan, the approach showed reductions in total medical costs related to patients' care and shorter hospital stays compared to similar patients who had surgery before the program began.
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How lifesaving organs for transplant go missing in transit
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareLosing luggage on a commercial flight is an inconvenience, but losing an organ for transplant could cost a life. Alarmingly, scores of organs are discarded each year because they do not reach their destination in time. Organs for transplant have a relatively short shelf life — ranging from six hours for hearts and lungs to 30 hours for kidneys — and there are frequently hundreds of miles between the donor and the recipient. To get to their destinations while still viable, organs are often flown on commercial airliners. Sometimes, flight delays and mishaps can prevent organs from reaching their recipients in time.
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Survey: US workers want pay increases, salary transparency
Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementWorkers want a fulfilling job, but let’s be clear: compensation is a key factor in attracting and retaining workers. Randstad's 2020 U.S. Compensation Insights survey reveals the importance of both compensation and transparency regarding pay. According to the survey, 74% percent of millennials expect a pay raise every year in order to stay at their companies, versus 62% of baby boomers and 66% overall. Additionally, 40% of employees say they've only ever received a raise if they've asked for one, but this number is higher among younger employees.
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Research shows pharmacological cardioversion as safe, effective as shock
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareThe results of a new study published in The Lancet show that pharmacological cardioversion is as safe and effective for resolving acute atrial fibrillation (AF, AFib) as electrical cardioversion. Acute AF accounts for about 430,000 emergency department (ED) visits in the United States and Canada each year. To avoid complications, such as stroke and heart failure, patients with acute AF must receive treatment within 48 hours. ED doctors and hospitalists in the U.S., Canada, and other countries use electrical and pharmacological cardioversion to restore normal heart rhythms.
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New ways to help shorten hospital stays for your critical care patients
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareAs a hospital administrator, your ongoing goals are to ensure your facility provides the best care outcomes possible and to get your patients quickly and safely back home. Your care teams may be able to accomplish these important goals more easily through innovations being developed via cutting-edge research. Read on about these simple, yet potentially game-changing developments. A few simple implementations could benefit your patients enormously.
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Novel imaging approach provides first glimpse of the body’s ‘steering…
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareA new approach to 3D imaging has shed new light on ankle kinematics. Ankle injuries are among the most common reasons for emergency department visits. EDs treat more than 628,000 ankle injuries per year. Ankle injuries account for about 20% of all visits to the ED. While ankle injuries are not life threatening, they can cause disability that decreases quality of life, so accurate diagnosis is always essential. Many ankle injuries involve the "body’s steering wheel," the subtalar joint.
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Zooming in on rogue immune cells: New research in autoimmune disease
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareAlthough there are over 100 autoimmune disorders, researchers don’t know exactly why the body's immune system signals cells to target the body's own healthy organs and tissues. Current treatments for autoimmune disease can only address the symptoms. According to Professor Chris Goodnow, director of the UNSW Sydney Cellular Genomics Futures Institute, studying rogue immune cells is challenging because they are so rare in a blood sample. However, researchers have developed a technique that allows them to look directly at the cells that cause autoimmune disease.
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AMA: Digital health tools are more important than ever to physicians
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcarePhysicians have been using more digital health tools since 2016, according to the American Medical Association, which first benchmarked the transformation at that time. According to continued research, the AMA reports that more physicians than ever say they understand the benefits of digital health tools for driving improved efficiency and safety at the point of care. As reported through the survey, the AMA pointed out specific insights in seven categories of digital adoption.
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