Half of older adults who sustain injuries severe enough that they could die in the hospital or become unable to function independently are not asked in the intensive care unit (ICU) if they wish to speak with palliative care specialists about their preferences for end-of-life care, according to a study done at Rutgers University. The… Continue reading Older Trauma Patients Would Benefit from Palliative Care
Tag: Medical Care
Five Steps to Avoid Being Misdiagnosed
1. Don’t be shy. Be curious, and insistent. Ask your doctor questions about your diagnosis and treatment. Ask things like, “What else could this be?” Keep asking questions every step of the way until you’re satisfied with the answers. 2. Get a second opinion. But don’t show up and tell the next doctor, “I’ve been… Continue reading Five Steps to Avoid Being Misdiagnosed
A Major Effort Needed to Fight Sepsis
Sepsis – a blood infection that can lead to organ failure and death – is just as important a research subject as heart disease or pneumonia, according to health experts from the University of Michigan Medical School. Although sepsis isn’t as well-known as heart disease, the experts say, it now affects more hospital patients, and… Continue reading A Major Effort Needed to Fight Sepsis
A Novel Therapy for Sepsis
A University of Tokyo research group has discovered that pentatraxin 3 (PTX3), a protein that helps the innate immune system target invaders such as bacteria and viruses, can reduce mortality of mice suffering from sepsis. This discovery may lead to a therapy for sepsis, a major cause of death in developed countries that is fatal… Continue reading A Novel Therapy for Sepsis
Reducing Wait Time in Doctors’ Offices
Using a pain clinic as a testing ground, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that a management process first popularized by Toyota in Japan can substantially reduce patient wait times in doctors’ offices and possibly improve the teaching of interns and residents. In a report on the pilot study, published online in September 2014, in… Continue reading Reducing Wait Time in Doctors’ Offices
Congress and A Failure to Address Health-Care Costs
Although the U.S. Senate has killed a bill that would have changed the way Medicare pays doctors, that issue remains just as crucial, according to a commentary in the journal JAMA Surgery. The bill, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act, was supported by physicians’ organizations as well as both… Continue reading Congress and A Failure to Address Health-Care Costs
Some Doctors Not Up to Date on Genetic Testing
Although genetic testing is becoming increasingly important, many primary care providers face challenges in making that part of a patient’s basic care, according to a new study published in Genetics in Medicine. Researchers from the University of Michigan reported that the most common reason given by primary care physicians (PCPs) was that they had insufficient… Continue reading Some Doctors Not Up to Date on Genetic Testing
Health System Not Meeting End-of-Life Needs
The U.S. health care system is not properly designed to meet the needs of patients nearing the end of life and those of their families, according to a September 2014 report from the Institute of Medicine. The report says that major changes to the system are necessary. A release from IOM notes that the 21-member… Continue reading Health System Not Meeting End-of-Life Needs
New Guideline for Sickle Cell Disease
An expert panel has created a new evidence-based guideline for managing sickle cell disease (SCD), with a strong recommendation for the use of the drug hydroxyurea and transfusion therapy for many individuals with SCD, according to an article in the September 10th 2014 issue of JAMA. The researchers say that this is advisable even though… Continue reading New Guideline for Sickle Cell Disease
YouTube CPR Videos Not Reliable
If you want to learn CPR, better not trust a YouTube video to be your teacher. According to Turkish researchers, only a handful of CPR and basic life support (BLS) videos available on YouTube provide instructions that are consistent with recent health guidelines. The study was published in August 2014 in Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM).
Change in Tube Feeding Boosts Nutrition
While the importance of enteral nutrition (EN), or feeding patients through a tube, in an intensive care unit is well understood, underfeeding is still common. A practice of a certain amount of feeding per hour can be interrupted by tests, procedures, or emergencies. Changing to a volume-based system, which calls for a certain nutrition volume per day, could reduce underfeeding, according to a quality improvement audit published in the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition’s (A.S.P.E.N.) Nutrition in Clinical Practice journal on August 26th 2014.
Second Opinions: Necessary or Not?
How important is that second opinion? For some medical insurance companies, second opinions are so important they are required before treatment.
Are second opinions as valuable as our insurance companies make them seem? Neurosurgeon Jack Maniscalco M.D. clears up the inconsistency. “Second opinions are important for a number of reasons. If you, as a patient, do not feel as though your doctor is comprehensively addressing your questions or concerns, seek out another physician. If you feel uncomfortable with your diagnosis or suggested treatment, find a doctor who will listen and understand your apprehension with the previous recommendation.”
Outpatient Urology Surgery Ups Deaths Risk
As hospitals have shifted an array of common urological surgeries from inpatient procedures to outpatient, potentially preventable deaths have increased following complications.
Those were the primary findings of a study led by Henry Ford Hospital researchers in Detroit. The paper was published online in August 2014 by BJUI, the official journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons. The investigators initially expected that improved mortality rates recently documented for surgery overall would also translate to commonly performed urologic surgeries.
Doctors & Patients Making Decisions Together
Shared decision-making is a concept that’s gaining traction in medicine, particularly in areas of health care, where patients are presented with more than one reasonable treatment option. The programs, which feature patient-education tools such as online surveys and videos, have several goals. One is to help people thoroughly understand their choices and assure them that they are making informed decisions.
5 Food-Drug Interactions You Want to Avoid
By Leah Shainhouse
You have heard it again and again: Adapt to a healthy lifestyle. If you make sure to eat well, a plethora of diseases can be prevented or managed. However, there are times when you walk into your doctor’s office, either for a routine check-up or for some sort of ache or pain and you have no choice. You walk out with another prescription, whether it is to help lower your cholesterol, control your blood pressure or fight off an infection.
Respiratory Rate in Pneumonia Often Overlooked
Pneumonia, a severe lung infection, is the most common disease calling for hospital admission. More than one out of ten pneumonia patients die of the disease. Thus it is vital to predict accurately and to closely monitor the clinical course. Measuring the respiratory rate – the number of breaths a person takes in a minute – provides valuable information. However, far too little use is still being made of this vital sign in clinical practice, according to Richard Strauß and co-authors a study published in August 2014 in Deutsches Ärzteblatt.
Many Hospitals Missed E-health Deadline
Many of the nation’s hospitals struggled to meet a federally mandated electronic health records deadline, and as a result could collectively face millions of dollars in reduced Medicare payments, according to a study done at the University of Michigan published online August 7th 2014 and slated to be published in the September print issue of the journal Health Affairs.
For-Profit Home Care: Higher Costs, Lower Quality
For-profit home health agencies are far costlier for Medicare than nonprofit agencies, according to a nationwide study done at the City University of New York School of Public Health and published Monday, August 4th 2014 in the August issue of the journal Health Affairs. Overall cost per patient was $1,215 higher at for-profits, with operating costs accounting for $752 of the difference and excess profits for $463. Yet the quality of care was actually worse at for-profit agencies than at non-profits, and more of the patients required repeat hospitalizations.