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Perceptions of opioid policies and implications for pain treatment in older…
Christina Thielst PharmaceuticalPain management can be complex for the 66 million individuals in the United States experiencing acute pain and the 100 million suffering from chronic pain. Opioids successfully alleviate pain for many; however, morbidity and mortality rates are rising. State responses to this public health threat include the creation of prescription pain management policies. A University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging examined the views and experiences of adults aged 50 to 80 years on opioid prescribing and related policies.
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JAMA: Growing rural ED use putting strain on safety-net hospitals
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationSafety-net hospitals in the nation’s rural areas are strained and busier than their counterparts in urban areas, a new JAMA study reveals. This problem is further exacerbated by fewer physicians serving patients in these areas and generally worse health for rural residents. Rural hospitals also are constrained financially with "operating margins often too narrow to invest in upgrades to optimize care delivery." According to the JAMA study authors, emergency department use patterns provide a lens into the status of healthcare delivery in the communities they serve.
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Price transparency can be exciting
Dr. Jonathan Kaplan Healthcare AdministrationHealthcare providers worry about the advent of price transparency for many reasons. It could be the concern that patients will focus on cost rather than the doctor-patient relationship, or they worry their competitors will check their price points and try to undercut them. With various insurance plans and deductibles, it's considered too difficult to offer actionable pricing insights to the consumer. All of these concerns are understandable. But they're also surmountable, as detailed below.
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5 ways to improve patient satisfaction through pain management
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareWhen it comes to making positive impressions after a hospital stay, the level of discomfort a patient deals with is a key factor. Research presented to the American Academy of Pain Medicine found that when pain is managed properly after surgery, patients reported higher satisfaction with their overall experience at a facility. It's easy to see why. A comfortable patient not only isn't in distress, but he or she feels listened to and truly noticed by hospital caregivers. Here are five crucial points you should to employ to make your organization's pain management protocol more patient-friendly — and do it safely.
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Audiologists address the gaps in newborn hearing loss screenings
Sheilamary Koch CommunicationsA child’s ability to hear and distinguish sounds is a critical component in his or her early language development. Unlike other deficits in the speech-language-learning realm that have a birth to 3 years old early intervention window, the critical window is much smaller for infants born with hearing loss. "If a child can’t hear, that child can’t communicate," emphasizes Jennifer Phelan, AuD, CCC-A, specialist in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss in children at the Center for Audiology, Speech, Language and Learning at Northwestern University.
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OPTN offers recommendations as unexpected, donor-derived hepatitis C transmissions…
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareThe opioid epidemic has affected nearly every Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) region by increasing the number of organ donors dying from drug overdoses. While the tragic epidemic has increased the number of organs available for transplant, many worry that the donors' drug abuse increases the recipients’ risk of unexpected, donor-derived hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmissions. While the safety and efficacy of HCV treatments in transplants are improving, unexpected, donor-derived transmissions have been trending upwards. The OPTN Ad Hoc Disease Transmission Advisory Committee (DTAC) reviewed these cases and, based on their findings, has made several recommendations.
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Researchers present new implications for treating sickle cell disease
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareIn sickle cell disease (SCD), hemoglobin molecules form into fibers that act like stiff rods within the red blood cells. Although the causes of SCD have been known at the molecular level for decades, the disease has never been studied at the level of detail it recently was by biomedical engineers in the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering. According to David Wood, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the university, the researchers were surprised at what they discovered at the nanoscale — that the disease self-assembly process is less efficient. This means that developing new medicines that are effective at lower doses and cause fewer side effects might be easier than originally thought.
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Staying young with RVing
Cindy Belt Recreation & LeisureWhen I go camping, I see many older people that are still active. We're hiking the trails, paddling rivers, and generally getting outside. I've realized that RVing helps people stay active and feeling young. Research has shown there are several methods to extend your life and keep your brain and body in the best condition. RVing provides the opportunity to experience these ways every day.
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Podcast: Concierge PT and podcasting to attract patients with Dr. Karen…
Jarod Carter Sports & FitnessBetween running her cash-based practice in New York City, recording her thriving Healthy Wealthy and Smart podcast, and co-founding the Women in PT Summit, Dr. Karen Litzy is one busy person. In this short interview, I get Karen’s thoughts on hiring new employees for her concierge practice, how podcasting has changed her life, and how my listeners might start their own patient-generating podcasts.
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Putting ‘human’ back in healthcare human resources
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareWhen we think of healthcare industry human resources departments, we may readily think of the processes of hiring and firing, the doling out of benefits packages, and other such responsibilities of HR professionals. In the worlds of healthcare, medicine, and nursing, employees can feel like so much cannon fodder when corporate interests appear to override the personal needs of individual staff members and the public whom they serve. Thus, we need to reevaluate the role of human resources and consider once again reasserting more of the "human" side into the mix.
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