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FDA condemns use of teething jewelry for infants with teething pain

Tammy Hinojos Oral & Dental Healthcare

For anyone who has raised a child, I think we can all agree that the teething season is awful! The crying, the fussing, the drooling. Then there’s the baby! Just kidding. Teething is no joke and most babies go through some level of discomfort during the season of time that baby teeth are erupting along the gum line. As a dental professional, you may have had patients ask you for your advice on how to deal with their baby’s teething.

Hand hygiene in the operating room: Halting the spread of staph infections

Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied Healthcare

In 2014, approximately 14.2 million inpatient operations were performed in U.S. hospitals. A survey of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevalence, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, revealed an estimated 157,500 surgical site infections associated with inpatient surgeries in 2011. Although advances have been made in infection control practices, surgical site infections remain an alarming cause of morbidity, prolonged hospitalization, and death. In fact, these infections are associated with a mortality rate of 3 percent, and 75 percent of deaths are directly attributable to these infections.

How to give your cardiologists the support they need

Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare Administration

As an administrator, you know that cardiologists are often nothing short of miracle workers. A little-considered fact, however: these highly skilled and brilliant physicians often work under emotional and physical constraints that make their jobs difficult, even dangerous — and that can compromise patient care. To give the cardiologists in your organization the assistance they may need, but may not ask you for, implement these important research-driven points. Doing so will ensure safe, satisfactory outcomes.

Help your pediatric patients beat dental fear

Lisa Mulcahy Oral & Dental Healthcare

As a dentist, you understand that many of your patients have anxiety over visiting your office, of course. Yet what may be a simple case of nerves for an adult can be full-blown terror for a child who fears visiting your office. You want your young patients to get the care they need without seeing you as the bogeyman or woman — so how can you quell their fear? Science has your back. Try these easy, research-driven tips to help your pediatric patients feel comfortable — and even look forward to — their next appointments.

Study: Caregivers aren’t putting patient-reported symptoms into EHRs

Scott E. Rupp Healthcare Administration

When it comes to getting more good news into the electronic health record case file, the following story is not among them if the source and the research are to be believed. The following might also fall at the feet of providers, who may be at the heart of this hairy tale. Per the findings of a recent study published in the December issue of the peer-reviewed journal Quality of Life Research, primary care physicians "do not routinely put patient-reported symptoms regarding sleep, pain, anxiety, depression and low energy or fatigue into electronic health record systems."

Do patients lie to their physicians? Results of an eye-opening survey

Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied Healthcare

In the delicate doctor-patient relationship, not telling the truth to patients requires special attention because patients can suffer serious harm if lied to by their physicians. Not only is patient autonomy undermined, but patients who are not told the truth may experience a loss of trust, and trust is essential for healing. Similarly, patient failure to disclose medically relevant information to their physicians can undermine patient care or even lead to patient harm. A recent survey showed that patients commonly withhold medically relevant information from their clinicians, a pattern that may adversely affect the quality of patient care.

VA, T-Mobile partner as government expands its telehealth efforts

Scott E. Rupp Civil & Government

Mobile phone service provider T-Mobile has announced plans to provide 70,000 lines of wireless service to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in an effort to ensure that every VA location has a connection for telehealth services to veterans. According to a release issued by the company, military veterans drive "an average of 25 to 50 miles for healthcare visits today." Through its partnership, the VA healthcare system is attempting to create better, more efficient connections between patients and their provider.

Stoking the healthcare leadership succession pipeline

Keith Carlson Medical & Allied Healthcare

In healthcare and other industries, keeping the succession pipeline filled is essential to organizational success and longevity. Healthcare institutions must bear in mind that a valued leader can retire, quit, be let go, or become ill or disabled at any time; thus, being ready for changes in leadership is both prudent and forward-thinking. In this particular endeavor, a proactive strategy is much preferable to a reactive one. If we accept the necessity of keeping the succession pipeline stoked, what are steps that a thoughtful healthcare facility can take in order to assure relatively seamless transitions of power and leadership at pivotal times?

CMS: US healthcare spending slows in nearly every corner of the market

Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied Healthcare

Healthcare spending slowed in 2017 for the second consecutive year in the United States, with a limited growth rate of 3.9 percent — almost one percentage point lower than in 2016 — according to new statistics released by the federal government this month. Healthcare’s share of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) is 17.9 percent with total spending emerging at $3.5 trillion — the equivalent of $10,739 per person — but growing slower than the overall GDP. Why the slowing growth?

Help your doctors get more rest on duty

Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied Healthcare

Sleep deprivation: it's a fact of life for both practicing physicians and residents alike. As a hospital administrator, you know this, but there's no doubt you wish you could help your doctors get a least a little more shuteye. You're in luck: cutting-edge research has identified strategies that physicians can use to rest more efficiently while performing their duties during shifts or prior to procedures. Help your doctors by employing the following science-based tips.

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