PSQH: The Podcast Episode 71 – Using Technology to Prevent Patient Falls
On episode 71 of PSQH: The Podcast, Rosemary Kennedy, Chief Health Informatics Officer, Connect America, talks about how technology can help prevent patient falls.
Pandemic’s Toll: 55.3% of Surveyed Healthcare Workers Report Subthreshold PTSD Symptoms
The recent study, which was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, is based on survey data collected from 852 healthcare workers from January 2021 to February 2021. The survey participants were recruited from emergency departments affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and emergency medical service agencies in several states, including Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Overcoming Social Determinants of Health to Improve Medication Adherence
The healthcare industry still has a medication adherence problem. It’s come up time and time again in recent years, but progress is slow, particularly among patients living in pharmacy deserts or facing other geographic or socioeconomic challenges. Meanwhile, avoidable medical costs due to nonadherence make up 20% of healthcare spending in the U.S. How can technology address these gaps?
The Value of Personalized Education on Pregnancy Risks
Despite this increasing rate of risk, many expectant mothers don’t know all the signs of the most common pregnancy-related complications. The Future of Pregnancy Health report, published in October 2022 by Mirvie and The Harris Poll, suggests that providing new and expectant mothers with more targeted education and tools to monitor their health can help to prevent common pregnancy-related risks.
2023 and Beyond: Where Technology in Healthcare Is Headed
The digital transformation in healthcare is happening now. As we enter 2023, the question inevitably comes up: What’s next? Healthcare organizations have already had a plethora of new options and technologies arise from the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically regarding safety and telehealth. How will these continue to evolve during the upcoming year?
OSHA’s Regulatory Plans for 2023
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh recently confirmed that three OSHA healthcare rulemakings are priorities for the Labor Department: a permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard, a proposed infectious disease standard, and a rulemaking to address workplace violence in health care and social services.
High Reliability: What Healthcare Can Take From Aviation
Indiana-based Parkview Health, a soon-to-be nine-hospital system with over 160 physician offices scattered throughout Indiana and Ohio, has been using concepts from the aviation industry to build its own culture of compliance, safety, and security. After all, healthcare is no stranger to the same contributing factors that led to the Tenerife disaster.
Bringing Prescribing and Fulfillment of Specialty Medications Into the 21st Century
Often, to prescribe the specialty drug, the physician must write a letter requesting the health plan to cover it and provide lab and/or test results to verify medical necessity. Meanwhile, the patient, who typically has a complex, difficult-to-manage health condition, waits needlessly for a drug that they hope will improve their health and quality of life.
Joint Commission Targets Maternal Health Crisis
This week, TJC released a Sentinel Event Alert and Quick Safety advisory on maternal mortality and morbidity. “We must address the maternal health crisis immediately, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated racial disparities in pregnancy-related outcomes,” Ana Pujols McKee, MD, executive vice president, chief medical officer, and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer of TJC, said in a prepared statement.
Three Ways to Ensure Healthcare Technology Design Focuses on the End User
Today’s technology solutions can help stem the tide of burnout—but to do so, their design must incorporate direct input from the end user. With informatics solutions that span care settings and are easy to use, clinicians and nurses can spend more time on patient care rather than grappling with disparate technologies that don’t fit into their workflows.