Opioid Epidemic Linked to $205B in Excess Healthcare Spending Over 4 Years
The $205 billion attributable to excess healthcare spending between 2015 and 2018 included providing medical care for opioid addicts and infants born with neonatal opioid-related conditions, and other family members bearing costs associated with those diagnoses.
AdventHealth Uses AI to Balance Capacity Issues Among 9 Hospitals
Fueled by AI and predictive analytics, which amass data from multiple sources, a team of more than 50 nurses, EMS and flight dispatchers, transport techs, and other specialists work in the 12,000-square-foot facility with 60 monitors to oversee activities on nine campuses with 3,200 beds and more than 2 million patient visits per year.
Q&A: Dealing With Sexual Harassment in Healthcare
Kate Fenner, PhD, RN, is managing director of Compass Clinical Consulting, specializes in organizational optimization, performance improvement, and regulatory compliance. She spoke about how harassment allegations should be handled, preventive measures, and the need to take both seriously.
CDC Urges Pregnant Women to Get Vaccinated
The lack of vaccination puts the health of both the mother and child at risk, the CDC said, as women with influenza are twice as likely to be hospitalized if they are pregnant and nearly 70% of whooping cough deaths came from babies less than two months old.
Infection Control is Front and Center at Annual Joint Commission Session
Infection control dominated the day’s presentations, which also looked at expectations for sterile compounding, Legionella control, using personal protective equipment, medication management, lowering maternal death rates, and, of course, ligature risk and suicide prevention.
Q&A: Tim Vanderveen Discusses Advances in IV Therapy
In this interview, Tim Vanderveen, PharmD, a consultant with ICU Medical, discusses IV therapy and its impact on patient safety.
Don’t Air Your Dirty Laundry
Pests commonly seek places of warmth, with food, moisture, and shelter—and shared laundry facilities offer each of these draws. Because of this, pest management professionals are taking note and encouraging facility managers and staff to do the same.
Improving the Patient Experience Starts in the Waiting Room
Waiting rooms can be a major contributor to infections, with patients waiting an average of 20 minutes before seeing a doctor, according to the Medical Group Management Association. In fact, the CDC reports that one in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection on any given day.
PA Hospital Investigates Waterborne Bacteria as Cause of Three Infant Deaths
Geisinger is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the outbreak and ensure that the bacteria has been eliminated.
Top 10 Medical Technology Hazards for 2020 Announced
Surgical staples, point-of-care ultrasound, and infection risks from sterile processing top ECRI’s list of medical technology hazards for 2020.