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Catching the common cold of healthcare: Leaders who don’t listen
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareHealthcare leadership is not for the faint of heart; it takes grit, determination, patience, and ambition, not to mention a healthy dose of high-level communication skills. However, some healthcare, medical, and nursing leaders just don’t understand how to listen; in this way, we can say that leaders who don’t really listen have truly caught the "common cold" of healthcare: a lack of understanding of the utter power of listening.
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Study: Failed birth control may be linked to gene
Dorothy L. Tengler PharmaceuticalDifferent birth control methods may be highly effective for preventing pregnancies, but birth control failure is more common than many realize. About 5% of the time, women using reliable birth control find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, and until now, the main reason was thought to be that the birth control method wasn’t being used correctly. A new study suggests that women who get pregnant while using birth control may carry a gene that breaks down the hormones common in contraceptives.
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Gluteal tendinopathy: How do the treatment options compare?
Heidi Dawson Sports & FitnessGluteal tendinopathy is the most common cause of lateral hip pain. Until recently, the source of pain was thought to be an inflamed trochanteric bursa, but recent studies suggest a more likely cause is irritation of the gluteus medius/minimus muscle tendon. Treatment of this condition is usually conservative, using exercise rehabilitation to strengthen the hip abductor muscles as well as patient education to manage load through the area. The BMJ recently published an article looking into the treatment of gluteal tendinopathy. The research looked into the outcomes of three approaches to gluteal tendinopathy treatment: education and exercise; corticosteroid injection; and "wait and see."
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Study: 70% of adults dying prematurely of natural causes do not seek medical…
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareAbout 70% of adults dying prematurely of natural causes have not sought medical help within the previous 30 days, according to the results of a new study published in the journal PLOS One. Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (IFS) teamed up to analyze autopsy reports and death investigation records of 1,282 people between the ages of 25 and 59 who died in Harris County in 2013.
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The stroke sign you might ignore — but shouldn’t
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareYour right eye goes blurry out of the blue. You blink, but the blurriness doesn't go away immediately. Ten minutes later, boom — it's gone. No big deal, right? Think again — you could have just had an eye stroke. Eye strokes are brief episodes of blurred vision or vision loss that last from a minute to a half-hour, then clear. You might chalk one up to a smudgy contact lens or just being tired, but any kind of diminished or missing vision should be taken very seriously. Eye strokes can be a sign that you've had a full-blown stroke — or a can be a precursor to one.
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Consumers share their top healthcare concerns, but there’s no such…
Scott E. Rupp Medical & Allied HealthcareMany Americans say they are worried about the future of the Affordable Care Act for people with preexisting conditions, according to the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health Tracking Poll. Almost 70 percent (68%) of respondents said they want to keep preexisting condition protections, and the KFF report suggests that a majority of respondents (54%) want to keep the healthcare law entirely as is, even if insurance plan costs increase. Those who responded said they’re all for price increases as long as their healthcare provisions are met. But who should pay for the possible increases is another thing altogether.
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Introducing the world’s first 3-D-printed human heart
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareFor the first time, researchers have "printed" a 3-D human heart using a patient's tissue. While the first printed heart is small and nonfunctional, the development of a 3-D printable heart could someday save millions of lives. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organization, and heart transplant is currently the only treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure. 3-D-printed hearts could help overcome shortages of hearts available for transplantation; because they use the patient’s own tissue, using 3-D-printed hearts could also reduce rejection rates.
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Should you leave stability and join a healthcare startup?
Catherine Iste Medical & Allied HealthcareHealthcare is a $3.5 trillion market that is not renowned for its efficiency. Yet, because there are so many very different facets to the healthcare market, like drug discovery, technological innovation, health improvement, and systems change, it is ripe for opportunity. Millions of dollars are being invested in startups in all areas of the market, and growth is expected to continue as investors and companies become more sophisticated. Could this be the time to leave a stable position and jump on board a startup?
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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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