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Healthcare groups: Payers are lagging with prior authorization reform
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationPrior authorization requirements over the past half-decade have increased and an overwhelming number of physicians say that the practice of seeking them interferes with continuity of care. In fact, more than 85 percent of the physicians asked said the practice impacts them, according to a new survey from the American Medical Association. The survey connected with 1,000 physicians, which found that more than "two-thirds said it's difficult for them to determine whether a prescription or service needs prior authorization."
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Why it might not pay to be a night owl
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareLove staying up late to catch up on extra work? You may think you're a natural night owl — but you could be hurting your overall physical and emotional health. Intriguing research suggests you might want to flip the switch on your schedule to improve both your work and personal lives. For example, a study by the University of Surrey in the U.K. found that night owls have a 10 percent higher risk of dying sooner than people who go to bed early in the evening. How come?
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New study: Effective change depends on 4 key attributes of nurse managers
Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied HealthcareAnyone who's ever worked in healthcare knows there’s a seemingly endless battle between administration and staff. Change can be extremely difficult to implement in any facility when the pressure to cut costs and improve metrics is high. But, a new study, published in Nursing Open, offers hope. According to the study, nurse managers who exhibit four key attributes have an easier time implementing changes in their wards. The four attributes are empathy; proactivity; respect for personal beliefs as well as external standards; and "having both micro and macro perspectives."
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Palliative care: A slippery slope for hospice providers?
Christina Thielst Healthcare AdministrationHospice and palliative care have traditionally been two distinct services, with the former being focused on the last six months of life. More recently, perhaps due to the aging population and shifting beliefs about end-of-life care, hospice is finally becoming more accepted. The growing number of baby boomers with chronic conditions and the desire to improve quality of life are also contributing to increased demand for palliative care. The response by some providers has been to expand the operation of their hospice programs to accommodate palliative care services.
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Medical scribes boost productivity among ER docs
Chelsea Adams Healthcare AdministrationMedical scribes can increase an ER physician's productivity, resulting in shorter lengths of stays for patients, according to a study published in The BMJ in late January. Conducted at hospitals in the Australian state of Victoria, the study compared ER shifts where trained scribes were utilized with those where clinicians were required to complete clinical documentation and other clerical tasks. Scribes enter the exam room with the physician and use a computer to document consultations, schedule follow-up appointments, order diagnostic tests, complete patients' electronic health records, request inpatient beds, print discharge paperwork and locate information for the physician.
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The baffling nature of auditory processing disorders
Sheilamary Koch CommunicationsUnlike many deficits that fall under the umbrella of audiology, auditory processing disorders are not diagnosed during infancy, toddlerhood or even the early school years. In fact, most audiologists wait until age 7 to make a definitive diagnosis. This is due to the child's neural pathways not being sufficiently mature to make a full evaluation prior to this age, explains Tracy Hagan Winn, audiologist at the Northwestern University Center for Audiology, Speech, Language, and Learning in Evanston, Illinois.
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Study: Clinicians using workarounds when operating EHRs
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationThe majority of U.S. hospitals have implemented electronic health records (EHRs). While the benefits of EHRs have been widely touted, little is known about their effects on inpatient care, including how well they meet workflow needs and support care. Despite the proliferation of the technology, there appears to be a high degree of variance in the ways care teams use EHRs during morning rounds. There are a high number of workarounds clinicians employ at critical points of care. Additionally, the EHRs are not used for information sharing and frequently impede intra-care team communication. These points are the results from a new study published by PLOS.org.
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Teamwork: A crucial healthcare engine
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareHealthcare delivery revolves around the cooperation, coordination, and seamless teamwork of multiple individuals, many of whom are highly skilled and educated. Patients are not cared for in a vacuum, and every member of a robust team must play their part in order for outcomes to be as positive as possible. For optimal healthcare delivery, teams are at the center of the universe and each member is an essential star contributing their own light. Making those stars shine as one is the ultimate goal of any successful team.
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Study on marijuana, male reproductive health spawns misleading conclusion
Dr. Denise A. Valenti Medical & Allied HealthcareEver hopeful to report positive aspects related to marijuana use, writers often leave out key points. As an example, a report from a Boston-based publication had the following headline, "Harvard researchers link smoking marijuana with higher sperm concentration.” It further concluded, "Experts say men who smoked marijuana have significantly higher concentrations of sperm than those who have never lit up." The report describes the work with research participants, "…scientists collected 1,143 semen samples from 662 mostly college educated white men." What the media report left out was the description that appeared in the published research, "…This longitudinal study included 662 subfertile men."
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What is Safety II? New opportunities for safety leadership
Christina Thielst Healthcare AdministrationResearchers in Europe may have defined and given structure to the challenges associated with safety. Their white paper on Safety I vs. Safety II highlights where scientific methods, standardization, root cause analysis and reliability alone fall short. They assert that safety needs to progress beyond a bimodal model to employ multiple approaches for reducing error/failure and achieving fully resilient systems. Safety I, as experienced today, is the push to eliminate all accidents, system failures and injury. Safety II recognizes that medicine and healthcare processes are not an exact science and that there is sometimes an art to caregiving.
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