An Orchestra of Care: Transparency for Patients at Home
While hesitancy to enter a nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic was expected given the challenges the industry faced in 2020, patients expressed a growing preference for home over nursing care even pre-pandemic. This meant that the industry’s focus had to expand into home health agencies, infusion providers, non-emergency transportation, durable medical equipment and home medical equipment providers, and more.
Airborne Contamination Insights From the Pandemic and Strategies to Optimize Efficiency
By Jennifer Wagner, PhD, CIC, and Damon G. Greeley, PE, CEM, HFDP, CBCP, EDAC, CHFM, A-IPC As more people are vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, many would like to resume their routine medical appointments and elective surgeries. Research indicates that airborne transmission of aerosolized droplets may be a significant factor for the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 … Continued
Complex Healthcare Systems Present Opportunities for Optimization
In a healthcare setting, processes may be interdependent and overlap in various areas of responsibility, potentially impacting patient experience and outcome. Process management, especially for clinical approaches, is typically articulated in a set of repeatable algorithms, or protocols. In a hospital setting, for example, the ED and ICU teams may be involved in the same patient care continuum but have very different roles and responsibilities.
The Patient’s Journey Through the Health System
The patient experience integrates the sum of all interactions of patients, families, and care partners with the healthcare workforce, driven by cultures that support a healthcare ecosystem across the care continuum within communities. This experience extends to all health organizations, whether primary care, hospital, private, or public organizations.
Four Lessons Learned From UW Health’s Virtual Care Rollout
As most health systems found out in the early days of the pandemic, scaling up virtual services was both critical and challenging. For UW Health, this process began with the need to rapidly boost the care team’s ability to work from home, providing virtual consultations and attending virtual rounds that would conserve PPE and reduce contact between team members and patients.
Artificial Intelligence Ushers New Era in Fetal, Maternal Safety in L&D
The use of technology in healthcare has seen exponential growth. Artificial intelligence—in particular, machine learning—is gaining prominence throughout medicine, and is now being applied to enhance fetal and maternal safety in L&D.
Improving Medication Adherence Through Patient Centricity
ZS has shown, Albert Whangbo says, that many factors contribute to patients dropping off their therapy—it’s not just down to patients themselves, but also to providers, pharmacies, payers, and the patient’s environment.
How to Approach Better Medication Management
According to a recent study by the Get the Medications Right Institute (GTMRx), nearly a quarter of the patients surveyed said their medical team did not regularly review their medications, despite a third of the respondents saying they were currently taking four or more medications.
Healthcare’s Role in Community Outreach During COVID-19
Organizations like VIP StarNetwork try to create programs offering tailored messaging not just for compliance, but also to get the right information into the hands of healthcare workers across the board. They’re also looking at avenues to address the growing shortage in healthcare.
Caring for the Caregivers: A Look at Improving Care After Discharge
COVID-19 has made it more difficult to bring assistance into the home, so much of the hands-on care for patients falls on untrained family or friends. To make matters worse, economic disparity means those with the least resources during the pandemic are often suffering the most.