Allowing for more quality measures in the federal government’s Quality Star Rating program would create a fairer and more equitable model for assessing the level of quality at U.S. acute-care hospitals, according to a Henry Ford Health System study. The study is published online in the American Journal of Medical Quality
Hepatitis C is a good news, bad news kind of disease. The bad news is that many with the liver-attacking virus may not even know it. The good news is that once discovered, doctors can effectively treat and even remove it.
Two decades ago, a landmark study by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) highlighted the prevalence of medical errors and called for a national commitment to reduce patient harm. Despite substantial investment by government and private institutions to increase patient safety, progress has been slow and uneven. A new study, published today in the November issue of the journal Health Affairs, sheds light on what more can be done.
Like a “needle in a haystack,” human auditors have the painstaking task of manually checking thousands of Medicare claims for specific patterns that could indicate foul play or fraudulent behaviors. Currently, fraud enforcement efforts rely heavily on health care professionals coming forward with information about Medicare fraud. Researchers are the first to use big data from Medicare Part B and employ advanced data analytics and machine learning to automate the fraud detection process.
By incorporating a gene-suppressing drug into an over-the-counter gel, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and their colleagues cut healing time by half and significantly improved healing outcomes compared to control treatments. Results from the combination therapy, which was tested in mice, were published online today in Advances in Wound Care.
Enthusiasm for an emerging digital health tool, the smart pill, is on the rise but researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have published a paper in the American Journal of Bioethics that cautions health care providers and policymakers to slow down when it comes to allowing this technology in patient care settings.
Patients who receive care in a for-profit hospital are more likely to be readmitted than those who receive care in nonprofit or public hospitals, according to a new study published by University of Illinois at Chicago researchers.
New research shows that the body’s own microbes are effective in maintaining immune cells and killing certain oral infections.
Single mothers work more when the government provides better health insurance, according to economic policy research.
Bangladesh, Haiti, Malawi, Nepal and Tanzania each has fewer than five health facilities that can properly diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, a new UCLA study reports.
Artel Thorpe Sr. of Jackson, Tennessee, recently became the first person in the United States to undergo a new, less invasive surgical technique for implanting a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) heart pump since it was granted Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval on July 11.
Setbacks are to be expected when pursuing a goal, whether you are trying to lose weight or save money. The challenge is getting back on track and not giving up after a difficulty or crisis, says an Iowa State marketing professor working on practical ways to help people stick to health-related goals.
UAH SMAP Center student interns have created a variety of cost-effective 3-D printed task trainers to be used by students in UAH’s College of Nursing.
Immunosuppressed patients with sepsis appear more likely to die if they are treated in a hospital caring for a relatively small number of these patients, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
The researchers examined 17 years of transplantation records and found no significant change in the recipients’ chance of survival when the organ donation came from victims of drug intoxication. The study publishes online on May 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Chris Scholten arrived at a community hospital with stroke-like symptoms. Using telemedicine technology, a Loyola Medicine stroke specialist examined Mr. Scholten remotely and recommended he be transferred to Loyola, where he underwent life-saving brain surgery.
While some clinicians may not always prioritize depression screening in patients with coronary artery disease, an early diagnosis could be a matter of life and death.
The AANA and CRNAs are urging healthcare professionals to consider alternatives to prescribing opioids when treating patients to reduce or eliminate the chances for addiction.
When it comes to health care, effective leadership can be a matter of life and death. Every decision made – whether business or health-related – must consider human cost.
Rooted in research, a Michigan Medicine clinic aims to help intensive care unit patients receive proper follow-up care and prevent readmissions.
New research finds significant differences in hospitals’ performance when readmissions were assessed for non-Medicare patients and for conditions other than those currently reported, showing that when these additional factors are taken into account, half of hospitals would be subject to a change in their financial penalty status.
A public health research team at Washington University in St. Louis has taken one of the most effective diabetes intervention programs and made it more accessible by partnering with an existing home-visit organization.
A new, large-scale study – led by researchers at the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and published online today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes – examined the relationship between 30-day episode spending for inpatient and post-discharge care and patient mortality following a hospital admission for heart attack.
African-American men successfully lowered their high blood pressure to healthy levels when aided by a pharmacist and their local barber, according to a new study from the Smidt Heart Institute.
Despite public health campaigns aimed at reducing unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics, the drugs continue to be prescribed at startlingly high rates in outpatient settings such as clinics and physician offices, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers analyzed de-identified data from Express Scripts Holding Co., which manages drug benefits for employers, and found that 98 million outpatient antibiotic prescriptions were filled by 39 million people during a three-year period from 2013 to 2015. Moreover, the researchers found no decline in the overall antibiotic prescription rate during that time.
A study of more than 200,000 Medicare patients who had common surgical procedures shows that, compared to the general population, they underwent far fewer minimally invasive operations, whose benefits include lower rates of complications and readmissions, along with shorter hospital stays.
A health insurance concept born from University of Michigan research may soon reach millions of people covered by Medicare across the United States, and allow them to keep more dollars in their wallets while getting treated for chronic diseases such as diabetes, depression and heart failure.
Although the incidence of appendicitis in the United States has been in decline for many years, the condition still affects approximately seven percent of Americans annually.
A 25-year-old drug discount program aimed at boosting resources for hospitals treating low-income patients did not deliver on its promise to enhance care for the needy, according to research from Harvard Medical School and the NYU School of Medicine.
A new, multicenter study that included Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that most NIH grants awarded to researchers in pediatrics during the past five years have been limited to physicians in senior positions at a small number of institutions. The findings indicate an overall downward trend in funding for pediatric research, particularly among early-career physician-scientists.
A longtime blood test that measures the likelihood of a cardiac event has become more sensitive and more precise. Why doctors and patients should be cautiously optimistic.
NIH researchers have devised a biochemically formulated patch of dissolvable microneedles for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The biochemical formula of mineralized compounds in the patch responds to blood chemistry to manage glucose automatically. In a proof-of-concept study performed with mice, the researchers showed that the chemicals interact in the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar for days at a time.
A virologist involved in the debate over "gain of function" and dual-use infectious disease research reflects on the issue, in the wake of NIH action.
Value in Health, the official journal of ISPOR (the professional society for health economics and outcomes research), announced today the publication of a research report suggesting that the removal of drug coverage caps may lead to improved medication persistence and help reduce the racial therapy gap in the United States.
When pharmacy professionals — rather than doctors or nurses — take medication histories of patients in emergency departments, mistakes in drug orders can be reduced by more than 80 percent, according to a study led by Cedars-Sinai.
New study finds that death rates for those hospitalized for opioid-related conditions in the U.S. have quadrupled since 2000. Worst toll seen among patients who were low-income, white, under age 65 and on Medicare, and the severity of opioid misuse leading to hospitalization has increased.
In research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, doctors at UCLA Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found that patients could benefit if they are invited to co-produce medical notes, called “OurNotes,” with their doctors, rather than merely reading them.
While simulation platforms have been used to train surgeons before they enter an actual operating room (OR), few studies have evaluated how well trainees transfer those skills from the simulator to the OR. Now, a study led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that used noninvasive brain imaging to evaluate brain activity has found that simulator-trained medical students successfully transferred those skills to operating on cadavers and were faster than peers who had no simulator training.
Pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) are more likely to receive evidence-based treatment with an "opioid agonist"—usually methadone—in states where those medications are covered by Medicaid, reports a study in the December issue of Medical Care, published by Wolters Kluwer.
If you have a heart attack or stroke, it’s important to get your “bad” cholesterol measured by your doctor on a follow up visit. Researchers have found that one step is significantly associated with a reduced risk of suffering another serious cardiovascular episode.
A national survey of more than 200 pediatric primary care physicians found that while over three-quarters addressed at least one parental health issue, such as maternal depression or parental tobacco use, during child health visits and a majority recognized the impact of such issues on children’s health, fewer felt responsible for addressing them.
One might assume that health care providers, especially those dealing with terminally ill patients, such as hospice workers would have a living will or advance directive. Surprisingly, Florida Atlantic University researchers found that the majority of hospice workers did not have an advance directive. Procrastination, fear of the subject and costs were reported as the most common barriers.
Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.
Australia has seen its worst flu season on record and could indicate a rough season for the United States.
In a review article publishing this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, physicians at Johns Hopkins, along with experts from several other institutions across north America, compiled published evidence and crafted an experience-based quality improvement blueprint to reduce repetitive lab testing for hospitalized patients.
As hospitals seek to improve inpatient satisfaction, one effective way takes only a few minutes and no expensive equipment. A study at the University of Virginia School of Medicine recently found that a daily five-minute conversation that focused on hospitalized patients “as people” significantly improved their satisfaction with their medical care.
A university spinoff has received a stage two grant to test a potential solution for malfunctioning vascular access.
Low-cost, high-volume health services account for a high percentage of unnecessary health spending, adding strain to the health care system.
The number of pharmacies throughout the United States is growing, but some populations may encounter barriers accessing them, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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