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Study: Medicare outpatients sicker, have lower incomes than patients treated…
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareMedicare patients who receive care in a hospital outpatient department are likely poorer and have more severe, chronic conditions than Medicare patients treated in independent physician offices, a study by the American Hospital Association (AHA) found. The findings of this study seem to show why proposals under consideration by Congress to reimburse hospitals the same amount as physicians’ offices "could threaten access to care for the most vulnerable patients and communities," the AHA said in a statement.
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Say what?! Clear communication matters when educating patients
Tammy Hinojos Oral & Dental HealthcareWe’ve probably all experienced it to some degree. Staring, glassy-eyed and befuddled, while someone is speaking so far above our heads that there is no hope of truly understanding what is being communicated to us. It may not be a big deal in a lecture hall or an online course. But if it’s taking place in a doctor’s or dentist’s office and it’s a doctor explaining diagnosis or treatment to a patient? That’s a big deal.
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The necessary work of disrupting healthcare
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareAs in other industries, change is a constant in healthcare. New medications, treatments, and technologies continue to emerge at breakneck speed: robotics and artificial intelligence, EMRs/EHRs, video-based medical appointments, and other innovations have altered various aspects of healthcare management and delivery. Still, this particular industry can feel unadventurous, old, and out of touch when it comes to long lines in ER waiting rooms, the ubiquitously disappointing 15-minute doctor visit, and the cost of prescription drugs and health insurance.
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Decreasing the risk of suicide in fibromyalgia patients
Dorothy L. Tengler Mental HealthcareFibromyalgia, one of the most common pain conditions, affects about 10 million adults in the U.S. About 75-90 percent of those with this condition are women, and most are diagnosed during middle age. One study of 1,269 Danish women with fibromyalgia showed that the suicide risk was 10 times that of the general population. Although the cause of fibromyalgia remains unknown, the disorder can be effectively treated and managed. A recent study showed that fibromyalgia patients who regularly visited their physicians or healthcare providers were much less likely to attempt suicide than patients who do not regularly see their physicians.
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Dental licensure may get a little easier
Tammy Hinojos Oral & Dental HealthcareYou’ve upgraded your technology over the years, yes? Surely you’re not still using a flip phone. Or a VCR to record your favorite shows. How about dial-up internet? So, it makes sense that industries would upgrade policies and procedures as technology makes strides in making everyone’s lives simpler and more streamlined. Dentistry included. Calling for the modernization "upgrade" of the dental licensure process, three dental associations have teamed up to become the founding members of a group called the Coalition for Modernizing Dental Licensure.
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Diabetology: An emerging, but stunted, new field
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareNew cases of diabetes have doubled during the last 30 years, mainly among obese people. This increase in diabetes prevalence has caused an emerging crisis in healthcare. About 14 years ago, one-year fellowship programs were created to afford primary care physicians the clinical skills to manage diabetes and its complications. Currently, there are four diabetes fellowship programs nationwide. But new research reveals that resistance among payers and other physicians may slow growth of this new specialty.
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CDC: More than 80,000 Americans died of flu last winter
Tammy Gibson Medical & Allied HealthcareExperts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that more than 80,000 Americans died of the flu during the 2017-18 season. Federal health officials said this was the highest number in more than a decade. 90 percent of the deaths were in people over age 65, but the flu also killed 180 children and teenagers. The CDC does not count adult flu deaths directly, but estimates them based on the number of excess deaths during the flu season. Officials at the National Foundation for Infectious Disease (NFID) estimate that a record-breaking 900,000 people were hospitalized.
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Wave of complex street drugs complicates diagnosis of overdose
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareDrug overdoses are increasingly common and more lethal in nearly every area of the country. New research provides a snapshot of regional illegal drug use. The report also highlights the complexity of detecting and treating severe drug-related events at emergency departments. Begun in 2016, the study focuses on identifying illicit drugs causing patient overdoses at two hospital EDs in Maryland. At the time of the study, the emergency departments were seeing a spike in accidental drug overdoses and related deaths.
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Survey: Many physicians unhappy with their hospital employer
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareA new survey with a whopping 9,000 physicians tells us that more than 30 percent (32 percent) of those surveyed said they do not see Medicaid patients, or limit the number they do see. Almost 90 percent (88 percent) of physicians said some, many or all of their patients are impacted by social determinants of health. The survey was conducted by the Physicians Foundation and also showed that 78 percent of those physicians experience burnout — which is becoming a highly covered topic of late — and 46 percent said relations between themselves and hospitals are "somewhat" or "mostly negative."
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Research provides new insight into transplant rejection
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareSurgeons now perform more than 30,000 organ transplants a year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and each of the recipients of those organs face the possibility of organ rejection. Not all organ transplant rejection is the same. Recipients of liver transplants rarely experience organ rejection, for example, while skin graft rejection rates are high. In a new study, published in Nature Communications, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital reveal insights that may help explain the mechanisms behind skin graft failure.
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