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EMRs show promise in easing malpractice cost
After years of hope and speculation, healthcare providers finally are seeing some evidence electronic medical records can ease the risk of malpractice suits and the burden of liability insurance... Read more...
Nurses confront violence on the job
It's well-known nurses have the most physical, in-your-face role in the delivery of healthcare. What gets less attention is that far too often, this results in nurses facing the threat of patient... Read more...
Virginia's medical board tightens discipline process
Virginia's Board of Medicine has decided to give staff members broader authority over certain disciplinary cases in an effort to cut a huge backlog of unaddressed complaints. Right now, more than 2,000 complaints await the Board's attention, although many involve allegations of misconduct posing little risk to patients, such as improper advertising. Over the past few years, violations were found in less than 15 percent of such cases. Now, to keep these more-minor complaints from clogging …
... Read more...Study: Childhood cancer survivors lack follow-up
A new study suggest that the majority of childhood cancer survivors aren't getting adequate follow-up care later in life. While childhood cancer treatments may save lives, they also create problems of their own, including the risk of new cancers created by treatment-related radiation. In particular, as many as 20 percent of young women and girls treated with chest radiation, commonly used for treating Hodgkin's disease, will develop breast cancer. Another risk: as many has half of the …
... Read more...Countries swap debt for healthcare
According to some estimates, it would take $50 billion to fund healthcare needs in developing countries. To close this gap, one international health organization proposes that developing countries get the chance to cancel portions of their debt if they spend on approved health projects. Backers say the Debt2Health plan is a "win-win"--cutting the risk creditors face while giving needy countries more money to deal with health crises. Indonesia, Pakistan, Peru and Kenya will become the …
... Read more...Study: Simple steps can cut ICU infections
A new study by research with Johns Hopkins suggests that hospitals can cut catheter-related blood infections in ICUs meaningfully by using simple, common sense infection control practices. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins' Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care studied data fro 103 Michigan ICUs before, during and after those ICUs implemented new practices to lower the risk of infections. Their intent was to see whether the hospitals would find protocols which could help reduce …
... Read more...SPOTLIGHT: When treatments don't work, whose problem is it?
When treatments don't work, whose problem is it?
At an FDA hearing last week, panel members soberly discussed the evidence as to whether drug-coated stents were responsible for an increased risk of future blood clots. Such safety reviews are obviously a good thing, but sometimes they sidestep other issues, says writer David Leonhardt. In this case, the FDA didn't even take on the issue of whether the stents--and preceding angioplasties--should be done in the first …
Press Release: Moderate Drinking May Help Older Women Live Longer
Press Release: Moderate Drinking May Help Older Women Live Longer
... Read more...Study: Long hospital shifts boost mistakes
Who would've thunk it? As It turns out, residents are not machines. If you schedule them to work for 24 hours or more on a regular basis, there's a pretty good chance they'll hurt someone out of sheer fogginess. Right now, medical residents may be asked to work shifts that run as long as 30 hours, as often as twice a week. To see what impact this is having, Harvard Medical School researcher Charles Czeisler and a group of colleagues conducted a monthly survey of 2,737 first-year residents …
... Read more...Cardiologists stand by stents
Recently there have been reports that blood clots can form within drug-coated stents designed to keep arteries clear. But cardiologists at the Transcather Cardiovascular Therapeutics show say patients are "far more are being killed each year by the failure of doctors to promptly clear coronary arteries and install stents when patients arrive at a hospital during a heart attack." Experts say that many studies have proven the superiority of stents to clot-busting drugs, and that the risk of …
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