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Study: Bacteria the cause of most infections in first year after solid…
Chelsea Adams Medical & Allied HealthcareIn the first year after transplant surgery, bacteria cause more than half of the infections that occur in solid organ transplant recipients. That's the result of a patient analysis conducted as part of the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study. The information is important since it allows transplant teams to prescribe appropriate immunosuppressant drugs. Following an organ transplant, three periods of infection have been identified.
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Hotspotting: The pros and cons of a key healthcare trend for 2020
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare Administration"Hotspotting" is a new strategy in healthcare meant to reduce the medical expenses of the highest-cost patients in your system. The basic idea: "super-utilizers," or patients who have been admitted to a hospital three times in a brief time period, are identified. Using a range of healthcare team members, patients’ lifestyles and needs are analyzed to determine where their treatment costs can be cut without compromising their care. There are both pluses and minuses to consider. Take these considerations into account to see if hotspotting may be appropriate at your facility.
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Infographic: The future of health insurance for millennials and Gen Z
Brian Wallace Healthcare AdministrationThe way people work is changing, and that means how people access healthcare and buy health insurance is changing, too. But what are younger generations looking for in health insurance? Learn more with this infographic.
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Coronavirus: A reminder for employers to have contingency plans for health…
D. Albert Brannen Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe recent outbreak of coronavirus in China reminds us that employers need to take certain actions to be prepared for public health crises in general. This article outlines some of the basic steps that employers can take now to get ready for a rapid spread of flu, coronavirus or some other pandemic threat. For example, you should strive to keep your safety policies and practices up to date. Consider what policies or practices you can adopt now that may come into play if there is a pandemic or major outbreak.
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Epic Systems wages interoperability war on CMS
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationThere's a major hubbub going on in healthcare right now regarding interoperability. This includes a campaign from the CEO of an EHR company to health system leaders encouraging them to rally against federal interoperability reform; tech giants telling the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to enforce its rules; and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma suggesting that some healthcare EHR vendors are attempting to protect "short-term profits." Where to start? In this case, we'll begin to break this drama down at the top — with the regulators, CMS.
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When a pandemic tests us in healthcare
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcarePandemics regularly challenge the global healthcare system. SARS certainly taught us some lessons, as did the H1N1 outbreak. Enter, stage left, the 2019-20 coronavirus. As this current viral threat circulates around the world — mostly via those who have recently been to the Wuhan area of China — the World Health Organization (WHO) is grappling with public relations, epidemiology, containment and quarantines, travel restrictions (and some outright bans), as well as deciding whether this is truly a pandemic or not.
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Workplace fatalities are at their highest levels since 2008. What’s…
Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIn December 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics released workplace injury data from 2018. There were 5,250 fatal workplace injuries, which represents a 2% increase over 2017. This is also the highest amount since 2008, and it should be noted that from 2009-15, workplace fatalities were in the 4,500 to 4,600 range. Two particular causes of workplace fatalities increased significantly. Deaths from unintentional overdoses as a result of nonmedical consumption of drugs or alcohol while at work increased 12%. Work-related suicides increased by 11%.
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Red in February isn’t just for Valentine’s Day
Amanda Ghosh Medical & Allied HealthcareHeart disease is the single greatest threat to women's health. According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading cause of death amongst women; it's estimated that one in five will die from cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, the future doesn't need to be so bleak. The American Heart Association states that 80% of cardiac events are preventable so long as you're taking the proper steps to prevent them.
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Study: Stroke during pregnancy may be increasing
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareAdvances in medical care and diagnostics should reduce the incidence of serious health problems and mortality rates from those events. Death rates from strokes have declined since the 1960s. This may not be the case for stroke occurring during pregnancy or within six weeks of delivery, however. A new study published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology sheds light on the incidence of acute stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) during pregnancy and the post-partum period, and suggests it is on the rise.
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Healthcare cybersecurity threats continue with no end in sight
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationIn 2019, healthcare organizations were the fourth most common target for ransomware attacks, according to a report released by Cylance, a BlackBerry company. Healthcare made up 7% of attacks overall, after technology (28%), consumer goods (15%) and manufacturing (11%), but the sophistication of attacks is growing more complex. A year prior, in 2018, Cylance said it saw a decline in overall ransomware attacks and an increase in malicious coin miners.
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