ECRI: Pediatric Mental Health Crisis Top Patient Safety Concern of 2023

Patient safety has been a pressing issue in healthcare since 1999, with the publication of the landmark report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Despite two decades of attention, estimates of annual patient deaths due to medical errors have risen steadily to as many as 440,000 lives, a figure that was reported in the Journal of Patient Safety in 2013.

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Long COVID Patients at Increased Risk for Cardiovascular Conditions, Study Finds

Long COVID, also known as post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), is defined as having new, returning, or ongoing health issues more than four weeks after an initial infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of long COVID include fatigue, cough, loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath, neurocognitive difficulties, and depression.

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CDC Issues Nationwide Alert for Measles Cases After Exposure at Kentucky Gathering

The CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) health advisory “to notify clinicians and public health officials about a confirmed measles case at a large gathering’ from February 17-18, during the infectious stage. According to the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH), the case involves “an unvaccinated individual with a history of recent international travel.”

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Addressing Preventable Deaths in Maternal Care

The report also noted that the leading underlying cause of death varied by race and ethnicity, with cardiac and coronary conditions the leading cause among non-Hispanic Black patients, mental health among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients, and hemorrhage among non-Hispanic Asian patients.

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New CMS CPT Codes Put Emphasis on Remote Therapeutic Monitoring

With nearly half of adults in the U.S. affected by musculoskeletal conditions, improved reimbursement will help expand care to patients in need, especially those faced with compounding effects of chronic pain such as depression and inactivity, as well as comorbidities like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or obesity.

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