The Importance of Between-Visits Appointments and Mental Health
A study by the National Council for Mental Well-Being reveals that mental health services in the U.S. are insufficient despite more than half of Americans (56%) seeking help, with limited options and long waits becoming the norm.
CMS Pushes Organizations to Improve Star Ratings and Quality of Care
Medicare Advantage plans often face a range of challenges in maintaining and improving their Star Ratings—everything from member churn to aging membership to increased competition. But moving from a 3.5-star to a 4-star rating can result in an average additional $400 per member per year.
Health Plans Have an Engagement Problem, but Care Providers Can Help
Care collaboration can make all the difference in how, where, and whether a member receives care. By leveraging the doctor-patient relationship, health plans have the opportunity to reach the members in a way that positively impacts their health and potentially their costs.
Q&A: The Need for Lifelong Learning in Nursing
We spoke with Jennifer Bertram, Leader of Education and Training Innovation, Hospital Patient Monitoring, at Philips about the challenges and opportunities nursing faces in ensuring nurses have access to education to keep up to date on emerging technologies and other core competencies.
The Evolving Use Case for RTLS in Healthcare
RTLS is used to provide actionable data and real-time locating of medical equipment, staff, and patients—it’s commonly referred to as “indoor GPS” for a hospital. But use cases go beyond just tagging assets and it can be used for any number of process improvements.
New Blood Test for Alzheimer’s Highlights Needs to Treat the Patient, Not the Disease
This breakthrough marks significant progress in diagnosing the disease, which now requires testing cerebrospinal fluids or PET scans. More accessible testing could allow drug therapy to begin at earlier stages of the disease, potentially with better outcomes.
Addressing the Disparity of Care for Rural Patients
The challenges don’t just stop at lack of staffing. Rural hospitals struggle financially, particularly now as COVID subsidies expire and reimbursements decline. Half of rural hospitals lost money in the past years, and 418 rural hospitals have been labeled as vulnerable to closure.
Nurse Navigator Program Helps CHF Patients Find Their Way
One organization has pioneered a program aimed to empower patients with CHF and their families to navigate the complexities and challenges of their illness. Magnolia Regional Health Center has created its new Nurse Navigator program, intended to create seamless integration between prescription data fill—an important factor for prioritizing patients for targeted interventions.
Addressing Non-Ventilator-Associated Hospital-Acquired Infection Prevention
With a 36.3% sepsis rate in NV-HAP patients compared to 1.9% in those with community-acquired pneumonia, NV-HAP sees a staggering 19-fold increase in sepsis incidence. Meanwhile, sepsis treatment in the U.S. costs the industry $24 billion annually, so more proactive steps toward prevention could not only mean healthier patients, but better financial outcomes as well.
A Focus on Stroke Care After Discharge
With Stroke Awareness Month in May, it’s a great time to look at not only how we identify stroke symptoms and handle emergencies, but also the importance of care for stroke patients post-discharge.