Pain Relief vs. Addiction and Overdose: Four Steps to Maintain an Appropriate Equilibrium
Opioids have become a substance of concern due to their propensity to spark misuse and addiction. Tragically, the CDC estimates that there have been about 1 million drug overdose deaths since 1999, of which 82.3% involved a synthetic opioid.
A Virtual Second Opinion Can Save Your Life
Your loved one is likely already receiving high-quality medical care for their condition. However, there may be times when you or your loved one desires a second opinion, like Dan. Perhaps your loved one has a condition that, despite treatment, isn’t improving or is getting worse; perhaps they have been diagnosed with a serious or rare health condition or have been told their condition is not treatable; perhaps they are facing treatment that involves significant risks, such as surgery or chemotherapy.
Improving Access to Ultrasound at the Point of Care
With more user-friendly technology that leverages artificial intelligence (AI), caregivers across departments—from emergency care to cardiology to primary care—could use ultrasound to quickly diagnose and treat patients suffering from a plethora of conditions. In fact, they’d be able to use it wherever the point of care happens to be, whether that’s in a hospital, in a clinic, or at a patient’s home.
Monitoring TAVR Patients for Improved Outcomes
For patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure is often performed as a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgery. This helps shorten a patient’s hospital stay and increases their chances of being discharged home. As TAVR procedures become more common, hospitals are now leveraging cardiac monitoring devices to monitor for significant arrhythmias post-discharge.
Are Patients Getting the Best Possible Care Through Telemedicine?
Telemedicine can increase provider productivity by enabling healthcare professionals to see more patients in a day. In addition, it can enhance the work experience for providers, affording them greater control over their schedule and allowing them to see patients whom they otherwise would not be able to see.
Six Low-Cost ‘Action Items’ to Recruit and Retain Nurses
While nearly half (46%) of the 86 respondents to the management consultant’s 2022 State of Healthcare Improvement Report say that reducing labor costs provides the greatest opportunity for cost reductions, virtually all of the respondents (98%) say they’re bumping up starting wages, 84% are offering signing bonuses, 73% are offering retention bonuses, and 47% are paying for more overtime hours.
13.9% of Adults Who Test Positive for COVID-19 Experience Long COVID, Study Finds
The new research article, which was published by JAMA Network Open, features survey data collected from more than 16,000 adults who experienced a test-confirmed COVID-19 illness.
Frailty and Probable Dementia Risk Factors for Mortality After Major Surgery for Older Adults
The new research article, which was published by JAMA Surgery, features data collected from 1,193 major surgeries involving 992 community-living older adults from 2011 to 2017. The data was drawn from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services fee-for-service Medicare claims and the National Health and Aging Trends Study. The definition of major surgery included any procedure performed in an operating room with general anesthesia.
Survey Finds Chronic, Widespread Shortages of Allied Care Professionals
A survey of 1,005 healthcare venues by the Dallas-based healthcare staffing recruiter found that 85% of respondents say they are experiencing a shortage of allied healthcare professionals “a great deal,” “a lot” or “a moderate amount,” while 82% report hiring new graduates over the last 12 months to address ongoing staffing shortages. Only 15% responded “a little” or “not at all.”
Executive Briefing: Medication Orders, Crash Carts, and Food Storage Lead Top Clinical Problems
Check patient units to ensure breast milk and other patient foods are stored correctly, encourage staff to reach out to providers if medication orders are not clear, and check crash carts for expired or missing items. Those are among some of the highest scored problems not associated with infection control or suicide prevention, according to findings by surveyors with The Joint Commission in the 12 months ending August 31.