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Eliminate hidden germ hazards at your hospital
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare AdministrationEvery hospital administrator knows that a clean, safe environment for patients is a top priority. There are great, new innovations in terms of bacteria control that many hospitals are implementing — a study from Duke University Health reports that the use of ultraviolet (UVC) light machines are on the rise, for instance. Yet, research also shows that, surprisingly, many areas in the hospital are overlooked when it comes to harboring hidden germs — and often aren't disinfected thoroughly as a result. Focus your cleaning protocol more thoroughly in the following places.
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Tapering off opioids after surgery: The Transitional Pain Program
Dorothy L. Tengler PharmaceuticalPreoperative opioid use is reported in 23.1 percent of patients undergoing surgery. However, there is an increased incidence of patients who receive prescription opioids after surgery compared with nonsurgical patients. In fact, a study of health insurance claims showed that patients undergoing two of the most common types of surgery were at an increased risk of becoming chronic users of opioid painkillers. Although prescriptions for opioids are most often related to surgical care, recent data suggest that 6 percent of patients undergoing either major or minor elective surgical procedures develop long-term opioid dependence.
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CDC issues new recommendations for treating pediatric mild traumatic brain…
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareEpidemiological data indicate a market increase in the number of emergency department (ED) visits for pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) over the past decade, yet there are no evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing and managing these concussions. To address this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now established the Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline Workgroup. Children made nearly 3 million visits to the ED and more than 2 million outpatient visits for mTBI from 2005 to 2009. Because many patients seek treatment at a variety of settings, including in their schools, the actual number of mild TBIs cases in children is difficult to assess.
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HIV/AIDS program cuts to pay for immigrant child detentions
Michelle R. Matisons Civil & GovernmentAmidst the news about the controversial practice of locking up immigrant children whose parents are not U.S. citizens is the looming question of who will pay for these detentions. Corrections facilities already face overcrowding and harsh conditions, and now we are seeing how the Trump administration plans to pay for all this: shifting funds from programs essential to some Americans’ lives, including HIV/AIDS programs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides myriad social service programs and also pays for the more than 13,000 children held in U.S. immigration detention facilities.
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Per-employee healthcare costs to rise in 2019, but not as much as this…
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationAs expected, employee health plan costs are likely to rise again, even if only marginally, by an estimated 4.1 percent in 2019, according to new research by the Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. The rise is actually slightly less than that of 2018, which has grown by as much as 4.2 percent. Mercer says the rise this year has fallen significantly from highs of 6.5 percent in years' past. While past years' increases have been substantial, the rises in premiums also were accompanied by common employer cost-control tactics.
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Strategies to help your nurses provide safer patient care
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare AdministrationRNs are the backbone that makes every care team in your hospital run like clockwork. Yet these caregivers are often unsung heroes and heroines as well — they routinely work beyond their physical and emotional limits for the good of their patients, and do so without complaint. As a hospital administrator, however, it's crucial to realize that the more essential support you provide your RNs with, the sharper they'll be when it comes to caring for every patient — improving health outcomes across the board. Employ these proven points to help your nurses accomplish their best work every day.
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Discovery of key mechanism in embryonic skin development could improve…
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareA new discovery of a key mechanism by which skin begins to develop in embryos could improve skin grafts. Developmental biologists are still working to understand the process by which embryonic progenitors coordinate cell fate specification and establish transcriptional and signaling competence. In a new study, researchers show that transcription factor DeltaNp63 profoundly alters the transcriptome and remodels thousands and thousands of open chromatin regions of Krt8+ progenitors during epidermal fate specification.
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Visibility as a path to healthcare career success
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareBeing visible is a key to success that the savviest healthcare professionals adopt as their modus operandi. Visibility is multifaceted, occurring both within and outside your workplace, and the potential impact on your career trajectory is often woefully overlooked. Visibility within your place of employment creates new opportunities since those with influence may more readily take notice of your contributions. It also creates circumstances wherein you can leverage what you accomplish in your current position to curry favor with future employers.
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US’ largest nonprofit integrated healthcare system to be carbon neutral…
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationKaiser Permanente, the largest U.S. nonprofit integrated healthcare system, is putting plans in place to be carbon neutral by 2020 as part of a larger environmental initiative. The healthcare company is walking the walk in regard to its mission to provide the best care outcomes, as recent reports suggest that the healthcare industry accounted significantly to carbon dioxide generation that could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths if not otherwise addressed.
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Is honesty the best policy?
Frank R. Myers Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityEvery department operates with policies, standard operating procedures, guidelines, etc. However, no matter how strictly you follow these parameters, they do not "always" work from a practical standpoint. Is following them to the "T" always working in the best interest of the client/patients/public? Sometimes the decision-makers within the top ranks of a department do not have in-depth knowledge about what is taking place at the lower levels — in my case, serving in the emergency response division of the fire department for most of my career.
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