One in Five Doctors Report COVID-19-related Pay Cuts, Furloughs
Of those physicians who’ve taken a financial hit or a furlough, 18% said they were treating COVID-19 patients, and 30% said they were not, according to the findings in an online survey of 842 physicians, conducted last week by Irving, Texas-based physician recruiters Merritt Hawkins.
Legal Considerations for Healthcare Workers Crossing State Lines to Help During Pandemic
Last month, the Trump administration declared a state of emergency and changed federal rules to allow licensed healthcare workers to practice medicine across state lines. The move is designed to address shortages of healthcare workers as COVID-19 patients surge and hospital staff are sidelined by coronavirus infection.
Track COVID-19 Rates to Signal When to Resume Non-Emergent Care
CMS published guidelines Sunday for hospitals who want to expand their operations again, but as with the White House and CDC criteria on “Opening Up America Again” issued April 16, moving toward normal depends on the number of COVID-19 cases in a region and whether those numbers are going down.
Coronavirus: 10 Considerations for Resuming Elective Surgery
To boost resources for treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients, governors across the country have ordered hospitals to delay elective surgery procedures. Last month, ACS released guidance for determining which elective surgeries could be delayed appropriately.
FDA: 4 million N95 Masks Could Be Reused Thanks to Emergency Order
The process has N95 masks placed in a room, sprayed with vaporized hydrogen peroxide using a special machine, and left to dry. A mask can be reprocessed up to 10 times for single-user reuse.
How to Establish Coronavirus Employee Wellness Support Teams at Hospitals
With coronavirus patients surging beyond New York, the COVID-19 pandemic is straining healthcare organization workforces from coast to coast. The United States has more reported COVID-19 cases and deaths than any other country, at more than 644,000 cases and more than 28,000 deaths as of April 16.
Doctors Should Not Have to Decide Who Lives or Dies
In these times, there is no avoiding unpleasant decisions. But we can choose who makes those decisions. There is a world of difference between the ethical rules that govern the care of patients and the ethical rules that govern public health. Clinical ethics prioritize each individual and leave little room for utilitarian calculations. By contrast, in public health ethics, the value of individual lives is overshadowed by the needs of society.
The Future of Work in Healthcare: A Strategic Approach to Bridging the Generational Divide
Aging clinicians, who started their careers in a healthcare environment that prioritized spending time with patients above all, maintain excellent relationship-building skills but may not stay on top of all the technological developments. On the flip side, younger clinicians are generally comfortable and competent in the use of technology, but may not have spent as much meaningful time at the patient’s bedside as their seasoned colleagues.
How to Improve Your ACO? Just Ask
With ACOs firmly entrenched within the U.S. healthcare system, ACO administrators in recent years have focused their success and performance metrics on financial, quality, and care coordination measures. Yet an entire range of key performance data is also available from ACOs’ most readily accessible information resource: their patients.
Study: Contaminated Reusable Bronchoscopes Could Cause Secondary Infections in COVID-19 Patients
Using sterile, disposable bronchoscopes would “substantially reduce the risks” to patients and healthcare staff, the researchers wrote. But single-use bronchoscopes are not widely available and may not be effective for some bronchoscopy uses, they added.