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ED visits rise, along with their costs for everyone
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareEmergency department visits increased by nearly 10 million patients in 2016 compared to 2015 data, according to a recent report the from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The total of 145.6 million visits is the highest number reported. Even with the total number of visits increasing, patients who used the ED for regular care decreased. Per the report, the percentage of emergency patients with nonurgent medical symptoms dropped from 5.5% to 4.3%.
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The skin cancer you don’t know about — but should
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareYou're no doubt well-aware of the potentially deadly consequences of melanoma. That's why it's so crucial that you do a monthly skin check of your moles and see a dermatologist for any changing lesions, as well as an annual full-body examination. Chances are, however, that you've never heard of the fastest-growing and most deadly form of skin cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) — and you need to get up to speed. The good news: with early detection and immediate evaluation by your doctor, MCC can be treatable.
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Study reveals statins have surprising benefits
Dorothy L. Tengler PharmaceuticalCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Approximately one-third of all deaths in the U.S. are due to heart disease or stroke. Elevated blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for CVD, and statin therapy has been strongly associated with a reduced risk of atherosclerotic CVD. While investigating why statins cause negative side effects, cellular chemists at The University of Toledo discovered previously unknown benefits. Statins may play a protective role in the event of a heart attack because they can suppress a biological process that disrupts cardiac function.
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A 4-step process for making changes in your nursing department
Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied HealthcareAlthough difficult, it is possible to get your staff on board with a change. A recent study published in Nursing Open shares how a group of nurse managers successfully changed aspects of their wards. A four-step process emerged from their stories. Echoing the principles of emotional intelligence, the four steps included (1) identifying, (2) prioritizing, (3) implementing, and (4) evaluating. These steps can be used to spearhead changes in your department.
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More teens, children seeking psych care in emergency departments
Chelsea Adams Mental HealthcareHere's the good news. More young people are seeking care for mental health-related disorders than ever before. The bad news? These teens and adolescents are using emergency departments to access the help they need. But, according to an analysis published in the March 18 issue of JAMA Pediatrics, only 16 percent of young patients who sought care in an ED ever saw a mental health professional. The analysis identified a 28 percent increase in overall psych ED visits among patients ages 6 to 24 in the years between 2011 and 2015.
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Telehealth use up dramatically nationwide
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareTelehealth use rose by more than 50% from 2016 to 2017, according to a new white paper by Fair Health. For the annually released paper, data was collected from the company's records of 28 billion commercial insurance claims, which showed that telehealth utilization grew nearly twice as fast in urban areas vs. rural over that span. Nationally, urgent-care centers increased their use of telehealth by at least 14%, followed by retail clinics at 7% and ambulatory surgery centers at 6%. Emergency department utilization of telehealth declined, though, by 2%. However, utilization in this setting was still the most used.
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Economy rebounds to add 196,000 jobs; unemployment steady at 3.8%
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe March jobs report shows that nonfarm payroll employment rose 196,000 from 20,000 new jobs in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. March’s rate of unemployment of 3.8% matched February’s rate of 3.8%. "To be really clear — today's jobs report inspires a bit of a sigh of relief relative to the disastrous February jobs number — but the economy is definitely going to grow a lot more slowly in 2019 than 2018," said Josh Bivens, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. March marked the 102nd consecutive month of expansion since the end of the Great Recession.
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Podcast: Keys to successfully going out-of-network and maintaining patient…
Jarod Carter Sports & FitnessSturdy McKee took a booming, three-clinic in-network practice and successfully transitioned completely out-of-network without missing a beat. In this podcast, he shares the patient communication strategy he used each time he dropped a provider, asks a thought provoking question about why patients would choose to go out-of-network, and gives examples of where cash-based practices have to excel to win patients.
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What’s next for association health plans after federal judge’s…
Seth Sandronsky Medical & Allied HealthcareU.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates recently ruled that the Department of Labor's issuance of a final rule last June 19 that lets groups of small businesses offer association health plans (AHPs) is "clearly an end-run" around the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections. Kev Coleman, president and founder of AssociationHealthPlans.com, disputes Judge Bates' ruling. "The new study on chamber of commerce association health plans painfully illustrates the insurance gains that will be lost to small businesses if the recent court ruling is not overturned," Coleman said in a prepared statement.
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Negativity: The mortal enemy of teamwork in healthcare
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareTeamwork in healthcare holds a place of the utmost importance when it comes to cooperation and the positive outcomes that both patients and providers desire to achieve. Collaboration and positivity need to be two of our highest-valued attributes in healthcare, and when negativity rears its ugly head on a consistent basis in any particular medical workplace setting, we see the mortal enemy of teamwork in action. Anyone can understandably have a bad moment or a bad day; however, when a bad day becomes a bad week, month, or year, that's another story entirely.
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