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Coffee or no coffee? An exploration of America’s morning beverage
Victoria Fann Food & BeverageIn the United States, over 150 million people drink coffee every day with the average consumption being three cups per day. That’s approximately 450 million cups per day! We love our coffee. In fact, it is rare to go anywhere these days — even in the smallest towns — without running into some kind of coffee shop, many of them serving freshly ground coffee and espresso. With that level of popularity, it’s a given that coffee is embedded into our lives. But, is this a good thing?
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Study: Vitamin D low in 80% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied HealthcareThe body of research examining the relationship between vitamin D and COVID-19 is growing. Now, a study published recently confirms a correlation between low vitamin D levels and SARS-CoV-2 infection, and health professionals are theorizing whether vitamin D supplementation could increase the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine. "Vitamin D Status in Hospitalized Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection" appeared in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, confirming a relationship between low vitamin D and hospitalization due to COVID-19.
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In times of crisis: 5 strategies that lead to better decisions
Dr. Paul Napper and Dr. Anthony Rao Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our work, how we relate with our families, and our personal sense of safety, security, and health. This crisis, coupled with recent burgeoning social unrest, presents unique challenges to leaders. How can we make better decisions — ones that could make or break our business — when we’re consumed by what’s around us? One answer comes from leaders in the profession that’s at the very center of the COVID crisis: expert medical practitioners, who frequently make life-or-death decisions for the people in front of them. How do they stay focused and keep their decision-making sharp?
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Study: Hospital charges are spiking
Seth Sandronsky Medical & Allied HealthcareHospital charges were spiking before COVID-19 hit the U.S. A new study from National Nurses United/California Nurses Association (NNU/CNA) looks at Medicare cost reports for 4,203 hospitals in fiscal year 2018. These hospitals "are charging on average over $417 for every $100 in their total costs." The study was released on Nov. 17. "This is one of the most egregious examples of what you have with a system based on profit, not patient need," Chuck Idelson, spokesperson for the NNU/CNA, told MultiBriefs by phone. A case in point is patients who need healthcare but avoid it due to hospital costs. That is especially risky during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is exploding across the U.S.
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Video: The clinician’s 2-minute guide to serious illness conversations
Liz Eddy and Alyssa Ruderman Medical & Allied HealthcareSixty-eight percent of physicians have reported being unprepared to address end of life with patients. COVID-19 has led clinicians to face these conversations head on without the patients' loved ones in the room. Utilizing research from Dr. Atul Gwande and Dr. Richard Balaban as well as research and firsthand experience from Dr. Michael X. Jin, we have developed a digestible guide to addressing end of life with patients.
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As hospitals shutter elective surgeries again, patients return to virtual…
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationHospitals across the United States are once again setting aside elective surgeries as COVID makes another surge across the globe. As this plays out, many hospitals are returning to the early days of the pandemic when such procedures were canceled or postponed to ensure health systems could maintain their resources to reduce the spread of the virus. Elective surgery or an elective procedure is scheduled in advance because it does not involve a medical emergency. Semi-elective surgery must be done to preserve the patient's life but does not need to be performed immediately.
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Plan for 2021 looking on the bright side
Lloyd Princeton Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementMostly sunny with intermittent clouds and showers. That’s my forecast for 2021. It may seem overly optimistic at the moment, what with talk of more shutdowns in the weeks ahead and the standoff in Washington. I am confident, however, that this too shall pass, the ship will get righted, and we will enter calmer waters as the new year gets underway. Having gone through so many months of uncertainty and reversals this year, why should I expect the situation will improve in the next? Despite the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in many countries, we are making progress on preventing and treating the virus as well as on producing an effective and safe vaccine.
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When politics and public health collide
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcarePublic health in the United States has been an intrinsic aspect of national well-being for more than a century. Without the mostly invisible public health machine, we would see all manner of preventable ills ravage our society. When cynically wielded, political power can wreak havoc with public health, and the COVID-19 pandemic is a timely example of how politics run amok can interfere with even the most basic protective measures. A negative or combative intersection of public health and politics costs lives, and this is where we must push back.
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Changing suppliers: When it’s time to cut the ties
Anne Rose Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementAfter some time in business, you’ve likely developed strong relationships with a certain set of suppliers. You know what they can do for you and when, you know their policies and procedures, and you’re comfortable that your goals and values are congruent. All well and good, but unless you periodically analyze the status of your relationships, it’s too easy to fall into complacency and make assumptions that are no longer valid. Then you risk misplaced loyalty. So, here are signs that it is time to critically assess your loyalty to long-standing suppliers, perhaps cut those ties, and look afield for new suppliers.
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Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine: Interim report claims 90% effectiveness
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareCOVID-19 is raging. The U.S. continues to see record case totals each day. A vaccine is perhaps the best hope for ending the pandemic. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but researchers have been racing to develop one. Now, based on an interim efficacy analysis, Pfizer and BioNTech claim their messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants who had not previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
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