6 Steps for Rural Hospitals to Rise to the Coronavirus Challenge
Margaret Mary Health, which features a 25-bed critical access hospital and two health centers, started planning for the pandemic in early March and admitted its first COVID-19 patient on March 13. At the peak of the rural hospital’s COVID-19 surge, nearly 20 coronavirus patients were admitted.
N95 Respirator Decontamination: OSHA Weighs In
The interim guidance to the agency’s Compliance Safety and Health Officers allows the reuse, in certain circumstances, of filtering facepiece respirators decontaminated using methods that have shown promise in limited research.
Contact-Free Continuous Monitoring
At Arnot Ogden Medical Center, a not-for-profit, 256-bed tertiary medical facility in Elmira, New York, we’ve long used traditional telemetry devices and methods in our four cardiology units to monitor patients’ vital signs. But we also wanted to give this added layer of protection to other hospital patients without incurring the costs of installing telemetry systems.
ABQAURP News: Age-Friendly Health Systems
For older adults, healthcare can be complicated. They are more likely to experience duplication of services, multiple transitions between care settings, harm from medications, and lack of planning that incorporates the goals of patients and their families.
How Data Analytics Will Improve Patient Care
Big data analytics strategies are maturing quickly in healthcare, outpacing numerous other industries. The reasons for this are the numerous visible and immediate benefits these technologies bring about, measurable benefits that can appear within weeks of adoption.
Study: Using Bed Barriers Cuts Down on C. diff
The study, conducted by researchers at Xavier University in Cincinnati and Bon Secours Mercy Health Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Kentucky, achieved an almost 60% decrease in infections, which is double the nationwide reduction goal established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over-the-Top Risky: Overuse of ADC Overrides, Removal of Drugs Without an Order, and Use of Non-Profiled Cabinets
Whether used as a full decentralized drug distribution model or for limited distribution of controlled substances, PRN (as needed) medications, and first doses only, ADCs today are often interfaced with electronic health record systems in both large and small healthcare settings.
Rapidly Accelerating Use of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Demands Ethical Analysis
The proliferation of AI and robotics use is inescapable, so how can the associated ethical challenges be identified and addressed? It was only last year that the FDA released model 1.0 of its software precertification to provide an initial tool to test AI and machine learning technology.
Healthcare Extends Into the Online Community
As consumers take more control over where they seek healthcare, they’re using their social networks to spread the news about their preferred choices. The result is that physicians are now being tasked with protecting their reputations in the digital world.
When in Crisis Mode, Let Everyone Follow the Data
During normal times, managers often make decisions based on their knowledge and experience; analysis of data to varying degrees informs that decision-making process. Circumstances change at an easily manageable pace, errors in judgment can be corrected, and the impact of those poor choices is often insignificant.