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New ways to support your hospice caregivers
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare AdministrationThe generous and caring determination of a hospice caregiver is truly an honor to behold. As an organizational administrator, your goal is no doubt to help these excellent professionals provide the most help to their patients as they can — and you want to offer them all the professional and emotional support they need as well. Fortunately, research has pointed out new directions administrators can go in terms of making their staff members' daily experience as streamlined and trouble-free as possible.
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Company’s new tech brings AI to overlooked aspect of healthcare
Shawn Smajstrla Medical & Allied HealthcareWeekly, if not daily, articles are published and posted across the internet hailing the potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Much of this content focuses on two primary aspects of the overall healthcare ecosystem: clinical and administrative. But Change Healthcare, a tech company that works with providers and payers to build a more collaborative and efficient healthcare system, has identified a different kind of use case.
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Deceased football players’ families file lawsuits against the NCAA
Seth Sandronsky Sports & FitnessOn Aug. 27, as the football season was about to get underway, families of four former college players filed wrongful death lawsuits against the NCAA. Take Sarah Staggs. Her late husband, Jeffery Staggs, played linebacker for San Diego State University in 1965 and 1966, and his brain autopsy revealed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease from traumatic head injuries like concussions. Families of deceased football players at the University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; and Grand Valley State also sued the NCAA over the athletes’ alleged wrongful deaths.
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Medicare ACOs saved $1.1 billion last year, adding to good news
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering new data that shows the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) saved $314 million for Medicare after bonuses paid to accountable care organizations (ACOs) in 2017. ACOs saved $1.1 billion total and CMS shared $780 million in savings with providers. There were 472 MSSP ACOs in 2017, and 60 percent saved money while 34 percent earned shared savings. The results come just after CMS said its Next Generation ACO saved Medicare about $62 million and maintained quality of care for 2016.
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Assaults on Medicaid: Threats to America’s most vulnerable children
Howard Margolis EducationThroughout America, the 2018 election may prove to be a momentous turning point for parents and supporters of vulnerable children, like children in poverty, children with chronic illnesses, and children with mild-to-profound disabilities. Not voting or voting for the wrong candidate may devastate these children. Ongoing assaults on Medicaid help to explain why. They explain why every vote by Americans who care about these children should reflect their distrust of both the executive branch of government and the current Congress.
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Study shows increased disease risk from childhood secondhand smoke exposure
Dr. Denise A. Valenti Medical & Allied HealthcareChildhood exposure to secondhand smoke has been shown to result in an increased risk of and harm from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study was undertaken by a group from the American Cancer Society’s Epidemiology Research Program. The conclusions were made after looking at the association of exposures to secondhand smoke in childhood and as adults to death of all causes, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, among 70,900 smoking men and women who never smoked.
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Help your emergency room team fight burnout
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareIt's a fact of life: the emergency department of any hospital can be a chaotic, hectic and frustrating environment for overworked doctors and nurses. And the pressure is nonstop: a University of Maryland study found that almost half of all U.S. medical care is given by ER health providers. Obviously, that level of responsibility can only add to those workers' stress levels, and raise their risk of short- and long-term burnout. Try these constructive, research-based solutions to help your team out.
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Avoiding the organizational pain of high nurse turnover
Keith Carlson Healthcare AdministrationIn healthcare and nursing, employee turnover can have an outsized impact on staff morale, the financial bottom line, and the retention of organizational memory and knowledge. In the 21st century, healthcare staff come and go for a variety of reasons; that said, prudent and forward-thinking organizations work diligently and consistently to combat inordinately high levels of nurse attrition. The University of New Mexico reports that hospitals stand to lose $5.2 to $8.1 million annually in direct relation to nurse turnover.
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Tighter opioid laws may not work
Jason Poquette PharmaceuticalMore restrictive laws surrounding opioid prescriptions do not always have the results they intended. That appears to be the conclusion of a study published recently in a JAMA Surgery article dated Aug. 22. The study focused on the impact of the October 2014 change of hydrocodone products from Schedule III to Schedule II. The law intended to reduce the total quantity of hydrocodone prescribing, and it did. The number of hydrocodone products (HCP) prescribed across the nation declined significantly. But the recent study noted that the schedule change appears to have resulted in a slight increase in the amount of opioids prescribed initially.
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New strategies to facilitate patient advocacy at your hospital
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare AdministrationAs a hospital administrator, your goal is to help your patients become as empowered and informed about their health decisions as possible. Yet, you're no doubt familiar with the very common problem of patients having difficulty advocating for themselves. They may feel intimidated in a healthcare setting, so they don't speak up about what they want. Patient advocacy is the obvious solution to the problem — but many healthcare organizations aren't tapping into all of its potential.
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