Gun Violence Costs U.S. Healthcare $1B+ Annually
Gun violence in the United States was responsible for nearly 49,000 deaths in 2021, about 30,000 inpatient hospital stays, and 50,000 emergency department visits, generating more than $1 billion in medical costs, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.
Patient Want to Receive Medical Test Results Immediately Online, Study Finds
The new research article, which was published by JAMA Network Open, features survey data collected from more than 8,000 adult patients and care partners who had gotten test results through an online patient portal from April 5, 2021, to April 4, 2022.
ACEP President: Drop in Emergency Medicine Training Applicants ‘Concerning’
The steep decline in applicants to emergency medicine training programs comes as emergency departments nationwide emerge from a harrowing experience of chaotic emergency rooms during the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to this year’s plunge in applicants, there was an expectation that there would be an oversupply of emergency physicians, with 8,000 more than needed by 2030, according to a 2021 report.
Addressing Maternal Mortality Through Cardiovascular Care
Addressing cardiovascular disease during pregnancy is crucial to reducing maternal mortality, says Rachel Bond, MD, system director of women’s heart health at CommonSpirit. “Cardiovascular death, which is the leading cause of death during pregnancy, is preventable 80% of the time. A lot of that has to do with us communicating with each other and diagnosing these conditions early.”
Nurse Practitioner Role Named ‘Best Job That Helps People’
The annual rankings noted that these jobs “enhance people’s well-being and help them accomplish their personal goals, big or small.” The publication had previously ranked the NP profession first on its “2023 Best Health Care Jobs” list, second on its “100 Best Jobs of 2023” list, and second on its “2023 Best STEM Jobs” list.
5D Technology Offers Innovative Approach to Evaluate the Fetal Heart
Congential heart defects (CHD) not only cost $5.6 billion in hospitalizations annually, but also severely impact families in terms of added financial stress, increased caregiving time, and decreased mental health. To maximize the detection of CHD, all pregnant patients should receive a comprehensive ultrasound screening of the fetal heart.
Shorter Primary Care Visits Linked to Risk of Lower-Quality Care, Study Finds
The new research article, which was published by JAMA Health Forum, is based on data collected from more than 8 million primary care visits in 2017. The data features visits with more than 8,000 primary care physicians. The researchers examined three kinds of prescribing decisions: antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections, coprescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines, and potentially inappropriate prescribing for older adults.
AR, VR Technology Gives Clinicians a New View of Complex Surgeries
As chief of the division of neurological surgery at the Lehigh Valley Health Network, Walter Jean, MD, has been using AR and VR for more than five years, not only to plan delicate surgeries, but to actually do those surgeries as well. The technology helps him to get a better look at a patient’s anatomy both before and during the procedure.
Engineering With Empathy: Medtech’s Missing Piece in the OR
The conversation around applying empathy in patient care commonly includes patient-facing clinicians, but it is time for that conversation to extend to product developers and engineers in medical technology companies. Many organizations are already incorporating patient-centered principles in their approach, but there is an opportunity to delve deeper.
NYP-Westchester Nurses Reduce Tracheostomy-Related Pressure Injuries to Zero for 4 Years
Reducing Tracheostomy Medical Device-Related Pressure Injury: A Quality Improvement Project details how NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester, in Bronxville, achieved the results in its 18-bed adult intensive care unit (ICU), by, in part, integrating MDRPI prevention into the bedside procedure for tracheostomies that used the percutaneous dilation technique (PDT).